Retail Marketing Conference 2019 - Speakers

Marcus Saxton

Business Unit Director, PZ Cussons (UK)

Marcus has spent over 20 years working within FMCG across multiple sectors and geographies, within large blue-chip organisations as well as listed entrepreneurial environments.

Having commenced his career with Mars UK, he went onto commercial & marketing roles with Anheusuer-Busch, Britvic Soft Drinks, GlaxoSmithkline, Molson Coors and in 2012 joined the FTSE 250 entrepreneurial business, PZ Cussons.  Having been with the business for c7 years, Marcus is responsible for the total UK business as well as Germany and other Western European markets.

Lucy Ryder

Brand Manager - Retail Channel Marketing, Vodafone  

Lucy started off life at Vodafone in the graduate scheme over eight years ago working on sponsorship properties in fashion, festivals and Formula 1.

Since then she’s worked in Commercial and Marketing functions in Enterprise, Consumer Segment Marketing and a number of roles in the Brand team from planning to campaign management.

Lucy has headed up the Retail Channel Marketing teams since May 2017 where she is responsible for the retail presence across Direct and Indirect and has delivered milestone projects including global re-brand, in and out of store experiences for Christmas and IOT.

Katie Scott

 Associate Director, Haygarth

With over 10 years’ experience working with leading retail brands in every sector, Katie now heads up the Retail team at award-winning creative agency Haygarth.

Haygarth have been lead retail agency and proud partners to Vodafone for over 5 years. During that time they’ve worked on a diverse range of projects spanning seasonal, brand and tactical campaigns, bespoke flagship builds, store re-designs and drive to store brand experiences. They have also helped successfully launch numerous devices, 4G, Home Broadband, new youth brand VOXI and most recently the much anticipated Internet of Things, winning numerous awards (including several POPAI Awards) for their work.

Ashley Hodge

Associate Design Director, Graphics 

Ashley directs and leads a team of skilled graphic designers, steering creative direction from a graphics and brand environment point of view. He is adept at delivering successful projects spanning a number of sectors for a diverse range of clients.

His skills are in brand strategy, art direction, corporate identity, print design, in-store signage and navigation and graphic communications.

Ashley’s clients have included Topman, Timberland, Primark, Kikki.K, Crabtree & Evelyn and Skopes. 

Peter Critchley

Managing Director, Beaver Group

Peter is Managing Director of Beaver Group; a digital agency, whose team has been innovating in and developing the digital signage industry since 1998. IKEA, EAT, Whitbread, Odeon, Center Parcs, Showcase and GSK among many others are using digital solutions which Beaver Group's project experts, engineers, and creative teams have installed and support.

Peter has both a technical and creative background which informs the strategy and consultancy expertise he provides. He is excited by helping clients navigate the project process and make the right technology and content choices, and crucially ensuring that context, customer experience, and value is at the heart of designing what is delivered by the digital solution.

Alex Sbardella

SVP Global Innovation, GDR Creative Intelligence

Alex Sbardella is a retail and technology expert, specialising in the practical application of innovation to solve the biggest challenges in retail today.

His presentations inspire audiences about the future and make complex trends understandable for wide audiences. As GDR’s SVP of Global Innovation, Alex helps some of the world’s most recognisable brands turn their trend insights into applied strategies: the future of the store, how technology is changing relationship between consumers and brands, and how to adapt to constantly changing market conditions.

Danielle Pinnington

Consulting Partner, Shoppercentric

Danielle is the founder of Shoppercentric – an independent insight consultancy that shows manufacturers and retailers how to turn shoppers into buyers.

Since setting up Shoppercentric in 2004 Danielle has worked with a wide variety of retailers, suppliers and agencies in the area of shopping research, including helping with the development of flagship stores, and providing the likes of Nike, Innocent, Kerry Foods and Coca Cola with shopper inputs to their trade strategies.

Danielle is always ready with an opinion on what shoppers want from retail, regularly speaking on the subject of shopping trends at seminars, conferences and for news outlets such as the BBC& Sky.   

Vicki Davis

Head of Customer Experience, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UK & Ireland)

Vicki worked in various entertainment Marketing roles in both retail (Our Price, WH Smith, Virgin Megastores) and Hollywood film studios (20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures) before coming to Universal Pictures, the home of Jurassic World, Mamma Mia and the Despicable Me minions.

She loves working with such fantastic content and creative assets, passionate and committed retailers, and a management team who are hugely supportive of innovation.