2024 Conference Programme

• You’ve been leading high-profile pureplay retail companies since 2009.  What key lessons has this taught you about effective leadership and company culture?
• As CEO of ASOS you grew sales from £178m to £4bn, and employees from 150-15,000. What were the key highlights for you in your ASOS journey and which key challenges did you have to overcome?
• The last few years has been challenging for many retailers.  What advice would you give to them about managing and growing a workforce during challenging and disruptive times?
• In many ways the customer is the biggest disruptor. They expect and demand more in terms of engagement, customer experience and digital interaction. What advice would you have for those retailers trying to navigate these challenges?
• How can retail leaders ensure their workforce truly connects to their company’s values?
• What key lessons can bricks and mortar retailers learn from successful pureplays in 2024?
• You are an advisor to a generative AI company.  How do you see AI developing in the retail space and why?
• What will retail leadership look like in 2027 and what should leaders be doing today to prepare?

• From a small university bedroom in 1986 with a dream and not much else
• A journey through one receivership and almost two
• The importance of self-belief and how to instil that belief in those around you
• Remember that actions always speak louder than words
• To 1,000 people today and the best shirt business in the world

• Drive wellbeing innovation, make better decisions and adapt faster
• Leverage the business impact of investing in happier, healthier colleagues
• Personalise your wellbeing strategy using generative AI powered actions
• Showcase the social and economic impact of workplace wellbeing programmes

The interviewer will ask the interviewee some of the following questions as well as asking the audience to ask some questions of their own:

• How does what is happening in the wider market impact on retail leadership?
• What are employee and customer expectations of retail leaders today?
• What skills do retail leaders need in 2024 that they didn’t need previously? 
• What key leadership lessons did retail leaders learn during the Covid pandemic that have helped them navigate the current environment? 
• There’s lots of discussion around technology and in particular AI, what are the implications for jobs in retail?
• How can retailers create the right environment and culture for effective and diverse leadership to thrive?
• How should retail leaders approach making resilience a fundamental part of their leadership capability?   
• How should retail executives/Board members approach leadership on new topics where they are not subject-matter experts? 
• With the election coming up soon, how will what government might do impact on people and leadership?
• What are the key leadership pitfall that retailers need to avoid at all costs?
• What will retail leadership look like in 2026 and beyond what should leaders be doing today to prepare?

The interviewer will ask the interviewee some of the following questions as well as asking the audience to ask some questions of their own:

• What does leadership and internal culture look like in a fast-growing start-up?
• Lick was started during a global pandemic.  What was that experience like for both you and your employees and what key lessons did you learn?
• What does sustainability mean for Lick and what advice would you give other retailers wanting to become more sustainable?    
• Lick has recently changed its model from direct to consumer to multichannel. What has this journey looked like and how do you think it will develop?
• Retailers are increasingly looking to bring the online experience into the store environment.  What does that look like for Lick and how are customers reacting?
• You’ve very quickly created a brand the meets customer needs.  What role has social media played in building the Lick brand?
• The Lick About Us page mentions “community as our driving force”  and “create a people-powered decorating movement”.  How has Lick achieved these goals?

• What factors will impact household spending for the rest of the year and what does that mean for retail? 
• What will the UK trading environment look like for retailers for the rest of 2024 and why?
• How will the costs of rent, rates, staffing, utilities and distribution look like for the next 8 months? 
• What will the golden quarter of 2024 be like for UK retail? 
• What trends can we see for the rest of the year in different categories of retail?
• How will customer behaviour develop over the remainder of 2024?  

• Harnessing the power of app technology to revolutionize the experience and engagement of frontline teams
• Streamlining processes and saving time and money through a successful platform deployment 
• Ensuring your workforce achieves increased productivity, staff engagement, exceptional customer service and improved member satisfaction
• Evaluating authentic insights into the key challenges and successes of Puregym’s digital transformation

• Which retail strategies have been the most effective when responding to the cost-of living crisis? 

• What new innovations in customer loyalty have shown the best results for retailers in the last year?

• What can retail leaders do to help improve customer confidence?

• Which technology innovations should retailers invest in to maximise efficiencies in challenging times?  

• How has the challenging economy impacted consumer behaviour and how should retailers respond?  

• How have retail pricing strategies changed in the last year and how will they develop throughout 2024? 

• How can retail leaders best collaborate to reduce business rates? 

• What are the new tools retailers can use to show the best value to their customers? 

• How can retail leaders be more creative to reduce their operating costs and show differentiation?

• How can retailers use the omnichannel experience to optimise the profitability potential of every customer?