This year's conference was a great mix of the hard facts and
realities facing every retailer, whether they are on the high
street or not, and some fantastic personal anecdotes and advice on
how to get the best out of every situation!
This year we have three out of our four speaker's presentations
available to download, simply click on their name to start the
download:
Matthew
Hopkinson, Business Development Director, The Local
Data Company
Toby Roberts, Owner,
D&G Hardware
Matt Piner,
Retail Analyst, Verdict Research
Stephen Robertson, Director General, The British Retail
Consortium
Unfortunately, we are unable to publish Stephen's
presentation. If you have any queries relating to this talk,
please contact the show's press officer Vanessa Fortnam on 01666
824624 or by email.
You can find out more about the work of The British Retail
Consortium by visiting their website www.brc.org.uk
Stephen's
career has spanned 14 years on the boards of major UK retailers
building on earlier management roles with Mars Inc, Unilever and
Alberto-Culver.
Stephen served for seven years as marketing director at B&Q plc
before leading the acquisition of Screwfix Direct which he then
chaired steering it through a period of strong growth. He went on
to become director of communications at Kingfisher plc and took the
helm of the Ellen MacArthur sponsorship.
Most recently Stephen served for three years on the retail
board at Woolworth plc.
He is a former chairman, and now Fellow, of the Marketing Society
and acknowledged as one of the UK's top retail marketers.
Matthew Hopkinson, Business Development Director, The Local
Data Company
You can find out more about the work of The Local Data Company,
and indeed sign up for its regular reports by visiting www.localdatacompany.com
Matthew
Hopkinson joined The Local Data Company (LDC) in January 2009 as
business development director.
Prior to joining LDC, Matthew spent 10 years in the commercial real
estate data market (including seven at director level) working for
Property Intelligence PLC (FOCUS) and CoStar Group
(NASDAQ:CSGP).
In addition Matthew was an associate at Remit Consulting (2008),
one of the leading consultants to the commercial property industry
where he worked on projects for Cluttons and Jones Lang LaSalle.
His experience also includes management of the integration process
of businesses as a result of takeovers / mergers as well as
significant organic growth and has worked on a joint venture with
The Builder Group.
Since joining The Local Data Company, Matthew has led the business
development team who sell into a wide variety of markets such as
web licensing and the retail insight market. They support over 85
clients including Google, Yell, MSN, Qype, CBRE, John Lewis
Partnership, Verdict, Boots, Whitbread, Javelin, Sheffield City
Council, Navteq, Rummble and CACI. In addition Matthew has had a
key role in the development of LDC's first online product Town
Centre Intelligence.
Toby Roberts, Owner, D&G Hardware
If you would like to get in touch with Toby please contact the
show's press officer Vanessa Fortnam on 01666 824624 or by email
Toby Roberts
says he 'fell into hardware', but has since gone on to win several
awards for his retailing expertise with D&G Hardware. He
started working in sales & marketing for Pepsi Cola
International (PCI), followed by 5 years in international sales for
a medical company working in the business to business sector.
He says what he learned originally at PCI still applies to his
current business, which includes the three D&G Hardware stores
and a children's wear business. With two more hardware stores
due to come online shortly, the recession has offered far more
opportunities for him to grow the company.
As a customer at the original D&G Hardware store, he witnessed
an argument between the store's then owner and a customer which
inspired him to buy the business and set about 'bringing it into
the 19th Century!' whilst retaining its original high
street 'spit and sawdust' appeal.
His regular award wins and success since then have proved that the
high street can compete effectively against the 'out of
towners'.
Matt Piner, Retail Analyst, Verdict
Research
You can find out more about the work of Verdict Research, and
indeed sign up for its regular market reports by visiting www.verdict.co.uk
Matt is a retail analyst at Verdict Research. His key focus
areas include market forecasting, retail locations, consumer
insight and online retailing. In addition, Matt is responsible for
Verdict's research and analysis of the grocery, electrical,
furniture, DIY and entertainment sectors. He regularly presents
Verdict's views and research to senior industry and professional
services audiences, as well the broadcast media. Prior to joining
Verdict, Matt worked in merchandising for
Mothercare.
Will Parsons, Editor, DIY
Week
After taking a
degree, a short stint in the restaurant industry and a Masters in
Publishing, Will joined Faversham House as a junior reporter. In
his five years with the publishing company he has worked on
Hardware & Garden Review and DIY Week, been acting editor on
Housewares Magazine, launched the Housewares Conference, the online
news site buildersmerchantsjournal.net and edited the company's
special reports on the garden, DIY and housewares sectors. He
took up his current position as the editor of DIY Week and
diyweek.net in July 2008.
