Worldwide topics and speakers

The UK (and World) Economy
Mark Berrisford-Smith - HSBC

Having studied Economics at Sussex and London Universities, Mark is now Senior Economist in the Business Economics Unit at HSBC Bank plc. He is responsible for advising the Bank and its customers on developments in the UK and global economies, and the performance of regions and key industry sectors. He speaks regularly at conferences and seminars organised or sponsored by HSBC. Interests and hobbies include hill-walking, sailing, skiing, the trials and tribulations of the England cricket team, and fine wines.

Mark will update us on the state of the world economy in his own innovative style. Alarming and reassuring, shocking and enjoyable, this will be a presentation to impact on your business, one you’ll not forget.

The State of the UK Retail Industry
Stephen Robertson - British Retail Consortium (BRC)

Stephen Robertson is the Director General of the British Retail Consortium, the main trade body for all UK retailers, representing both large and small and food and non-food. Stephen Robertson has been Marketing Director of B&Q and, therefore, is well qualified to address the international hardware and housewares audience.

Stephen will be explaining the state of the UK retail market, the opportunities and threats and particularly what the British Retail Consortium is doing on the political front and with government lobbying to ensure that the retail environment is kept as friendly as possible for hard pressed retailers.

The IHA - 100 year retrospective and what next?
Jonathan Swift, International Federation of Hardware and Housewares Associations (IHA)

Information to follow.

Passion and Power - An Entrepreneur’s Success Story
Peter Cullum - Towergate Risk Solutions

Peter Cullum, executive chairman and majority shareholder of Towergate Partnership, began his insurance career in 1969 with the Royal Insurance Group. He progressed to sales and marketing positions within Commercial Union and ITT London and Edinburgh, where he became marketing director in 1988. At the age of 21, he became the youngest person to pass the Chartered Insurance Institute fellowship examinations. In 1991, Peter joined Economic Insurance and led their return to profitability in 1993. In December 1993, Peter led the management buyout of the Economic that was sold in 1995 to Hiscox plc. He joined Hiscox as group marketing director, a role he held until he left in 1997 to create Towergate Underwriting Group. Peter was the 2005 overall winner of the Ernst & Young UK Entrepreneur of the Year award and is the current holder of the M&A Deal Maker of the Year. In 2008 Peter was named Management Today’s Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2007, Peter was awarded an honorary doctorate of Science in Entrepreneurship by Cass Business School. Following this he provided £10 million for Cass Business School to form a new Centre for Entrepreneurship. Peter will give an inspirational talk on how he got to where he is now.

European View on Commerce
Xavier Durieu - Eurocommerce

Xavier Durieu was appointed Secretary General of EuroCommerce in 2001 where he had been Chairman of the Euro & New Payment Systems Committee since 1996. Of Belgian origin, he holds an MBA from the London Business School. Before joining EuroCommerce in 2001, he has been General Manager of various service companies within the GIB Group, Belgium’s largest retail group. He also served as managing director of its financial subsidiary as well as chairman of the Awards Services S.A. He began his career at Eurocard International, where he held various positions. Between 1991 and 2002, he has been visiting professor at the HEC management school in Brussels. Since 1997, he has been non executive Director of the FEIB, the Financial Executives Institute of Belgium and independent director of SMEs. He is President of the FIRAE (Forum for International Retail Association Executives), and board member of ECR (Efficient Consumer Response) and of the International Commerce Institute.

More information to follow.

Retail Address
Matt Sexton - B&Q

B&Q is the number one DIY retailer in Europe and the third largest in the world, with B&Q Beijing now the largest B&Q store in the world. Matt will talk us through their strategies for maintaining their status and market share and continuing their growth in these tough trading conditions.

More information to follow.

The Internet and the Traditional Hardware Market:
Opportunities for Independent Retailers
Simon Bicknell and Tim Strong - Toolbank

Toolbank will speak on the ways in which the independent retailer can benefit from new technologies and will base its presentation on how the internet has changed the nations’ shopping habits.

More information to follow.

Green Issues: Opportunity or Threat?
Belinda Fletcher - Greenpeace

Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our planet today and how companies respond to the threats and opportunities it brings will be key to the future of our planet, its people and biodiversity. Belinda works for Greenpeace’s international forest campaign and will speak on some of the work that her organisation has done to both expose the bad practices of companies operating in this arena and then explore how this has led to some unusual collaborations with companies as variant as McDonalds and Unilever. Are you ready to step up to the mark?

Staff Recruitment and Retention in the 21st Century
Margaret Gooch, Head of Human Resources - Calor Gas

Margaret has over 20 years’ experience as a HR professional. During 11 years at Calor she has spearheaded a number of employee initiatives. Calor gained the Investors in People accreditation and re-accreditation under Margaret’s guidance; a significant reduction in employee turnover; introduced a reward strategy directly linked to the business plan; partnered with a leading UK business school to improve succession planning in the organisation; and introduced an employee engagement survey with continually high response rates. Margaret has also got extensive experience in change management and right sizing. She sits on the main Management Team at Calor and is also a Pension Trustee.

Before joining Calor Gas, Margaret worked at Signet Group and Owen Owen gaining significant exposure to commercial retail and supply chain issues. Prior to this Margaret worked at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), having joined on their graduate training scheme. She is married with two children. Hobbies include running, the theatre and home improvement, having just completed a self build project with her husband.

Margaret is going to talk about the initiatives she has led at Calor to reduce employee turnover and improve the quality of new recruits into the organisation. She will also discuss how to improve employee engagement and what this actually means for an organisation and the structured process Calor has adopted to manage their talent pool.

BHF Group Annual Retail Address
Ben Phillips - Steamer Trading

Ben Phillips, Managing Director of Steamer Trading, a family run and award winning cookshop specialist will give an inspirational talk from the independent angle. He will talk about how he and his family have managed to grow and sustain a successful cookshop business since 1985 with a total of 21 stores across the south of England. He will demonstrate how important it is to be passionate about what you sell and the level customer service you offer.