Speakers

David Beardmore, Impulse Director, Tesco

Tesco

David Beardmore

Impulse Director, Tesco

David was appointed the Impulse Category Director in January 2022 after 2 years leading the Grocery category. Prior to that he spent 4 years in our Asia business as the Tesco Brand and Reset Director, transitioning to lead the Packaged Food Division in 2017, a role which he held for 3 years. In 2020 along with his family, David returned to the UK to lead the Grocery category during COVID. Prior to working at Tesco, David has worked in various categories within FMCG businesses Unilever, SC Johnson, and Premier Foods.

 

Chief Commercial Officer, Ocado

Ocado

Amit Chitnis

Chief Commercial Officer, Ocado

Amit joined Ocado in December 2023 and is responsible for buying and commercial strategy. Before joining Ocado, he spent a few years at the Tata Group, then Bain & Company, and has spent 10 years at Tesco across various commercial roles, most recently as the UK Grocery Director. Amit holds an MBA from INSEAD, and a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications engineering from the University of Mumbai.

 

Dean Harris, Head of Co-op Media Network

Co-op Media Network

Dean Harris

Head of Co-op Media Network

Dean is a dynamic marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in both B2B and B2C markets. His roles have spanned advertising, loyalty, CRM, trade planning, brand management, and customer strategy. Starting his career at McCann with a global B2B client portfolio, Dean moved client side to Co-op where he has driven the grocery and life services business for over a decade. As Head of Co-op Media Network, he is now responsible for growing Co-op’s media business, leveraging convenience shopping insights and Co-op's scale to make brand decisions easier for shoppers.

 

Trudy Hills Trading Director for Impulse and Grocery, SPAR UK

SPAR

Trudy Hills

Trading Director for Impulse and Grocery, SPAR UK

Trudy Hills is the Trading Director for Impulse and Grocery at SPAR UK and joined in March 2020. SPAR UK works on behalf of the 5 SPAR Regional RDCs and manages the National Supplier relationships and trading plans, as well as delivering the SPAR Brand own label ranges and supporting the RDCs with National Marketing campaigns and Retail initiatives.Trudy started her career with Procter and Gamble, enjoying 12 years in Sales and Sales Marketing, and prior to SPAR has worked for several retailers including Asda, Iceland, Pets at Home and Halfords.

 

Simon Miles, Founder and CEO, Lighthouse Advisory

Lighthouse Advisory

Simon Miles

Founder and CEO, Lighthouse Advisory

Simon is the Founder & CEO at Lighthouse Advisory Simon has been a recognized Digital leader for many years including working on the Walmart International business at Coca-Cola and leading all Digital development in GB when at Coca-Cola European Partners 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.

 

Matthew Nobbs Executive Grocery and Discounter Expert

Matthew Nobbs

Executive Grocery and Discounter Expert

Matthew spent 22 years at Lidl in senior commercial roles- leading in Buying, Supply Chain, Promotions in Food and Non Food. He was the UK CCO of Gorillas, Trading Director at Holland and Barrett and has advised with many Grocery and CPG businesses. Matthew will give his insights into “what good looks like” when working effectively with a discount retailer.

 

Dan Butler, Senior Insight Analyst, IGD

IGD

Dan Butler

Senior Insight Analyst, IGD

Dan started in grocery retail at the age of 15 and his career has mainly been focused on the industry, working for Co-op, Asda and most recently Waitrose where he specialised in profit protection, inventory management and retail operations. In just two years with IGD he has become a Senior Insight Analyst in the Global Insight Team, leading research into the German, Polish and Romanian markets. He also leads IGD’s discount working group and is regularly called on to provide insight on the channel through presentations, retail safaris and bespoke reports.

 

Chris Hayward, Director of Sales, IGD

IGD

Chris Hayward

Director of Sales

Chris has over 20 years’ experience in FMCG Market Research. Chris regularly presents IGD market trends to Retailers, Manufacturers and Govt Bodies and is responsible for the day to day commercial offer from IGD. Chris started his career at Nielsen and spent 15 years working at Kantar Worldpanel and Millward Brown. Whilst at Kantar Chris was well known for offering insights for broadcast media, and has appeared on BBC, ITV, CH4, CH5, SKY as well as National Radio and Print. Chris brings a warm and informed style of chairing to IGD conferences and looks forward to ensuring your day is as informative as possible.

 

Michaela Jay, Insight Manager, IGD

IGD

Michaela Jay

Insight Manager, IGD

Michaela has almost 10 years’ experience in Insights and Market Research, having worked at Kantar Insights for most of her career, specialising in brand growth opportunities. After Kantar, she moved to a fine wine & spirits company as an Insights Manager, and for the last year has been an Insights Manager in the Global Insight Team at IGD. Michaela focuses on retailers’ performance and strategies across global markets and leads IGD’s research into the online retail channel.

 

Patrick Mitchell-Fox, Insight Partner, IGD

IGD

Patrick Mitchell-Fox

Insight Partner, IGD

Patrick is one of the longest established members of IGD’s UK insight team and over 25-plus years has developed wide ranging expertise across many aspects of FMCG trade channels. In particular, he leads IGD’s research on convenience retailing and wholesaling in both retail and foodservice channels, producing outputs for IGD’s Retail Analysis subscription service as well delivering consultancy projects. He is a frequent presenter and conference contributor on both IGD and other platforms.

 

Bryan Roberts, Retail Futures Senior Partner, IGD

IGD

Bryan Roberts

Retail Futures Senior Partner, IGD

Bryan has been a retail analyst for nearly 30 years, working with some of the biggest grocery retailers and suppliers around the world to create better commercial outcomes. With a career including spells at Retail Intelligence, Mintel, Planet Retail, Kantar, TCC Global and Tesco, Bryan is now Senior Partner in Retail Futures at IGD where he continues to help retailers and brands succeed through insights and data.

 

Rhian Thomas, Head of UK Insight, IGD

IGD

Rhian Thomas

Head of UK Insight

Rhian leads IGD'S continuous UK insight programme exploring shopper, retail developments and eating out. An experienced researcher with nearly 20 years of experience, Rhian regularly presents to audiences of different sizes on the topics shaping the industry.

 

David Warren, Director of Consulting, IGD

IGD

David Warren

Director of Consulting, IGD

David leads the IGD Consulting service, blending over 20 years’ experience in manufacturers through Commercial Leadership and Transformation roles, with more recent experience advising Companies on how to improve business performance through Strategy, Insight, Capability and Relationships. A passionate advocate for driving all aspects of the IGD value equation to enable retailers to deliver better shopper outcomes for their suppliers.