Speakers

Simon Attfield, Solutions Capability Lead, IGD

Simon Attfield

Solutions Capability Lead, IGD

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Simon has 20 years experience in consumer goods across sales, shopper marketing and category management.

At IGD he tutors on our range of successful workshops alongside developing & delivering bespoke training programmes for customers.

Prior to IGD, Simon headed the customer marketing team at Tata Global Beverages and was responsible for developing the category strategies and shopper marketing. Simon has also worked for Britvic and P&G.

Sarah Baldock, Marketing and Communications Director, IGD

Sarah Baldock

Marketing and Communications Director, IGD

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James joined Wincanton in 2018 and leads 8,500 Wincanton colleagues, managing supply chains in the UK for some of the best-known grocers and consumer brands.

In his 26 years in third party logistics, James has enjoyed working across a broad range of industry sectors and geographies for major 3PLs, leading and growing businesses and commercial functions.

James is passionate about safety and wellbeing and believes these to be cornerstones of the very best supply chain and logistics operations.

Will Broome,  Founder and CEO, Ubamarket®

Will Broome

Founder and CEO, Ubamarket®

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Will started his career at a leading consumer PR Agency in London, before setting up a revolutionary live event 'dot com' brand and becoming the youngest President of the International Live events association (ILEA).

His passion for pioneering tech solutions led him to the retail industry following a particularly frustrating supermarket trip, mostly spent hunting for products and queuing. He refused to accept that the in-store experience couldn’t be dramatically improved and set about developing an end to end solution, crucially from the customers’ perspective.

The result is the multi award-winning Ubamarket®, ‘Magic Shopping List’® app which has been called “The World’s Most Sophisticated Shopping App” by the UK’s leading retail industry magazine. They have since added a “Magic Menu®” app to their portfolio for the F&B sector, called NOMM®.

Bethan Brown, Group Development Director, Samworth Brothers

Bethan Brown

Group Development Director, Samworth Brothers

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Beth Brown is Group Development Director for Brands and Responsible Business at Samworth Brothers, a leading UK food manufacturer. In this role she develops the Group’s portfolio of brands (including Soreen, Higgidy and Ginsters), alongside leading key initiatives within the Samworth Brothers’ Positive Impact Plan. Most recently, she has led a programme of “Portfolio Evolution” – working closely with IGD in developing a new approach and strategy on health and nutrition for Samworth Brothers’ as a group.

Beth joined Samworth Brothers in 2014 as the Marketing Director for its newly-acquired brand, Soreen. Over 6 years she led the repositioning of the brand from a “teatime treat at Granny’s house” to a healthy snack beloved by families, driving a 50% increase in net sales over her tenure and earning the brand many marketing awards.

Prior to Samworth Beth spent 7 years at Kelloggs working on brands such as Special K and Crunchy Nut across both communication and innovation. She began her career as a Strategic Planner at Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, and has also worked in a boutique corporate responsibility consultancy (Good Business) on accounts such as Coca-Cola.

Beth is married with two children and lives in Manchester. She is a non-Exec Director for a local social enterprise (HM Pasties) and outside of work, is passionate about food, her garden and her family (not in that order!).

Kris Comerford, Chief Commercial Officer – Food, Asda

Kris Comerford

Chief Commercial Officer – Food, Asda

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Kris joined Asda in July 2022 as our Chief Commercial Officer, Food. He leads Asda’s food business and is responsible for delivering a market-leading proposition for customers through our Commercial and Supply teams.

Kris joined from Tesco, where he was recently UK Commercial Director, Packaged Foods, Fuel and Tobacco.

His career in Retail began there in 2005 and he grew his knowledge of how to successfully lead teams in our fast-paced industry through taking on responsibility for a number of key categories within the Commercial function.

Kris then broadened his own skills and furthered his development through an overseas appointment as the Chief Commercial Officer for Tesco Lotus in Thailand before he then returned to the UK in December 2020.

Steph Cullen, Head of CPG, Circana

Steph Cullen

Head of CPG, Circana

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Steph joined IRI from Britvic where she spent 5 years as Head of Business Insight. Before that Steph worked in a number of client leadership roles for dunnhumby after initially beginning her career on Unilever’s Future Leaders Programme.

Steph has a strong network and comes very well endorsed by some senior influencers across our industry. Her strong leadership and coaching style add a powerful dynamic to the commercial leadership team. She is an experienced insight leader and performance coach focussed on driving growth and competitive advantage through objective insight and empowering others.

Steph was named by Women in Data as an inaugural member of the “20 in Data & Technology”.

Her passion is growth - personal and business. She strives to provide an objective, evidence-based, insight-led approach with a high level of challenge which enables individuals and teams to take better, faster decisions in order grow themselves and their business.

With experience of top-flight sport in the GB Rowing Team alongside working with Exec-level individuals across a number of businesses, she thrives on understanding what drives performance and how to optimise the chance of success.

Eve Crump, Category, Commercial and Supply Chain Solutions Manager, IGD

Eve Crump

Category, Commercial and Supply Chain Solutions Manager, IGD

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Eve has a commercial background with experience in roles across Marketing, Sales and Category Development.

Many of her roles have involved working with project teams spanning across the supply chain, in the UK and Europe. With IGD, Eve delivers projects within the Solutions team and has a particular focus on Category, Health & Sustainability.

Nick Downing, Commercial and Insight Director, IGD

Nick Downing

Commercial and Insight Director, IGD

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James joined Wincanton in 2018 and leads 8,500 Wincanton colleagues, managing supply chains in the UK for some of the best-known grocers and consumer brands.

In his 26 years in third party logistics, James has enjoyed working across a broad range of industry sectors and geographies for major 3PLs, leading and growing businesses and commercial functions.

James is passionate about safety and wellbeing and believes these to be cornerstones of the very best supply chain and logistics operations.

Dan Gillett, Insight Manager, IGD

Dan Gillett

Insight Manager, IGD

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Dan has been a shopper insight manager at IGD for five years, focusing on big trends affecting shoppers as well as large format stores.

Prior to that, Dan held insight roles at dunnhumby and at a soft drinks manufacturer, having started out as a graduate buyer at Tesco in the Central European Hardlines team.

James Hurrell, Managing Director - Grocery & Consumer, Wincanton

James Hurrell

Managing Director - Grocery & Consumer, Wincanton

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James joined Wincanton in 2018 and leads 8,500 Wincanton colleagues, managing supply chains in the UK for some of the best-known grocers and consumer brands.

In his 26 years in third party logistics, James has enjoyed working across a broad range of industry sectors and geographies for major 3PLs, leading and growing businesses and commercial functions.

James is passionate about safety and wellbeing and believes these to be cornerstones of the very best supply chain and logistics operations.

Laura Jacobson, Global Insight Leader, IGD

Laura Jacobson

Global Insight Leader, IGD

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Laura works with global retailers and suppliers providing future-focused insights on innovation and trends in the consumer goods industry. Her specialism is in Asian markets. Her focus for the year ahead is developing IGD’s health research.

Hugo Mahoney, Group CEO, Samworth Brothers

Hugo Mahoney

Group CEO, Samworth Brothers

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Hugo Mahoney is Group Chief Executive Officer of Samworth Brothers. He previously served as CEO of Brakes, the UK’s leading food service distributor.

Samworth Brothers are one of the largest chilled and ambient food manufacturers and are proudly a fourth-generation family business with modern, well-invested bakeries and manufacturing sites in the UK and Ireland.

Hugo has spent much of his career in the food and drinks industry, including working for Coca-Cola Enterprises. During his 30-year career he has also led organisations across a spread of technology and business service industries, and in multiple geographies.

Hugo worked closely with the UK government on the Covid pandemic response, with Brakes and their partners sourcing and delivering over five million food and essential item parcels to the shielding vulnerable during the first lockdown.

He served as Chairman of the Constellation buying alliance of distributors across Europe, and has been an industry advisor to UK TI.

Simon Miles, Global Vice President Omnichannel, The Coca-Cola Company

Simon Miles

Vice President Global Omnichannel, The Coca-Cola Company

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He joined the Coca-Cola system in 2006 and has held a number of senior commercial roles including Category Planning, Shopper Marketing and Account Management.

Prior to joining the Coca-Cola system Simon worked in a number of different Marketing roles in CPG , Tech & Sports and as a consultant across Europe and Asia.

Ian Morley, Vice President Sales – Northern Europe, Procter & Gamble

Ian Morley

Vice President Sales – Northern Europe, Procter & Gamble

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Ian Morley is Vice President, Sales, P&G Northern Europe, and has more than 30 years’ experience in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry.

Diane is accountable for all existing customer revenues and contracts, including responsibility for the account management and customer service functions. Additionally, she manages ambitious business growth across the UK and Ireland through the new business and marketing teams.

Ian has been in his current role for seven years, and is responsible for working with senior leaders in the retail industry, in addition to leading the development of P&G’s 250-strong sales organisation.

He is passionate about growing categories and leaving a lasting legacy upon the business through strong talent management strategies.

Ian is also Lead Team Sponsor for Social Mobility at P&G Northern Europe, through which he has led the development of the organisation’s first commercial apprenticeship programme, which began in September 2021. He is also a Trustee and Director at IGD, and Chair of Governors at a local Surrey academy.

Debbie Robinson, CEO, Central Co-op

Debbie Robinson

CEO, Central Co-op

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Debbie is a passionate retailer with over 40 years’ experience working in the retail sector. She is a firm believer in co-operative ethics and values and was appointed as Chief Executive of Central Co-operative in April 2019, one of the largest co-operatives in the UK. Debbie is also a Board member of the British Retail Consortium, Vice-President of Euro Coops and a member of the advisory panel at Diversity in Retail.

Prior to taking on the role at Central Co-operative, Debbie was the UK Managing Director at SPAR. She has also worked at The Co-operative Group, Marks and Spencer and W H Smith.

Debbie is a great advocate in all aspects of inclusion. She is also a champion of sustainability and a pioneer for Fairtrade. Debbie has developed higher standards of animal welfare in the food industry and has implemented improvements in diet and health including food pack nutritional information. She was heavily involved in recent campaigning resulting in a change to the law to better protect retail workers and instigated the launch of a Co-operative International Development Fund to help move global communities out of poverty.

Debbie has taken part in charity bikes in support of the Mines Advisory Group for the last seven years and has recently completed her nineteenth consecutive London Marathon, this time, in support of Oxfam.

Debbie was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her outstanding contribution to business by the University of Birmingham in July 2022.

Jason Tarry, UK & ROI Chief Executive Officer, Tesco

Jason Tarry

UK & ROI Chief Executive Officer, Tesco

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Jason joined Tesco in October 1990 through a graduate recruitment programme into the Finance division. At the end of 1993, he moved to Commercial and held a number of positions in both Food and Non Food divisions, including impulse and bakery category director, non food sourcing director and clothing category director.

Following promotion to Commercial Director for UK General Merchandise in 2005, Jason returned to clothing in 2008, taking on responsibility for clothing across Central Europe and Turkey as well as the department store operation in the Czech and Slovak Republics.

In 2012 Jason was appointed CEO Group Clothing adding UK and Ireland store and online operations to his remit as well as taking F&F to Tesco’s Asia business and further afield via franchise partnerships.

In January 2015, Jason was appointed to the Exec Board as Chief Product Officer, responsible for commercial policies and supplier relationships across the Group, and directly responsible for product, range, price, promotions and supply chain for the UK.

July 2018, Jason was promoted to CEO, UK and ROI and became President of IGD in January 2023.

Stewart Samuel, Director of Retail Futures, IGD

Stewart Samuel

Director of Retail Futures, IGD

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Based in North America, Stewart leads IGD’s global trends research including future commerce, data and technology and health.

Stuart Sankey, Head of UK and Europe, Shopmium

Stuart Sankey

Head of UK and Europe, Shopmium

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Stuart leads the Shopmium business in the UK and Europe. With over 20 years experience across the marketing mix and the last 13 specifically in FMCG & grocery retail, Stuart is a leader in retail media, evolving the ability for brands & retailers to more easily connect with consumers.

Emma Simpson, BBC Business Correspondent

Emma Simpson

BBC Business Correspondent

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Emma Simpson is a well-known face on British TV screens as a business correspondent for the last 14 years with the BBC Business & Economics Unit based in London.

An award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Emma has developed a special focus on the retail sector and regularly appears on the main radio and television bulletins across BBC News.

She joined the Corporation as a graduate news trainee and has worked in many parts of the news operation, including reporting stints in New York and Moscow as well as the Midlands and Scotland. She lives in London and is married with two children.

Lucy Whittaker, Head of Category and Customer Development Solutions, IGD

Lucy Whittaker

Head of Category and Customer Development Solutions, IGD

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Lucy has a background in FMCG having worked in buying, category management and account management, working with all major retailers in the UK.

Lucy has worked at IGD since 2019 in the commercial team, working with key manufacturers, and now brings her experience to lead on strategic projects including category vision and commercial competency.

James Walton, Chief Economist, IGD

James Walton

Chief Economist, IGD

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James’ role at IGD is to help businesses anticipate and cope with strategic events, including: economic pressures, geo-political change, social developments and environmental stress.

James is well known for speaking at both UK and international events and provides interviews for TV, radio and the press. He also creates original reports and articles for IGD.

James has worked with clients across the entire grocery industry as well as with non-industry groups such as government departments, financial businesses and NGOs.

James joined IGD in April 1999 and has served in several roles, becoming Chief Economist in 2004.

Prior to joining IGD, he worked for Hillsdown Holdings, Northern Foods and Rank-Xerox.