As Managing Director for the UK and Ireland, Karen is responsible for all UK & Ireland subsidiaries of

H&M. This includes overseeing around 7,000 colleagues, the operations of over 200 physical stores,

our digital platforms, and the development of the brand and growing customer base in one of H&M’s

most significant markets globally.

Karen brings over 25 years of experience at H&M to her role, beginning her journey on the shop floor,

she has held 14 roles across store operations, area management, and sales markets, most recently

serving as Sales Market Manager for the Nordics. Her career is marked by a deep understanding of

retail operations and leadership, and a proven ability to drive growth and transformation. Karen has

successfully led cross-functional teams to elevate customer experience across multiple regions

Jacob Lovén is the founder of the podcast "Den Digitala Draken", one of Sweden's most influential voices within tech. He has a background from digital companies such as Klarna, Schibsted Media and MTGx. Since 2023, he's an active board member of Effektify, one of Sweden's fastest growing martech companies.

Dee Corsi is Chief Executive of New West End Company, the UK’s largest retail, leisure and hospitality Business Improvement District. It represents over 600 property owner and occupier businesses across the West End, and is anchored by Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street.

Working alongside its members, New West End Company delivers transformational projects, sustainable place management, destination marketing, advocacy, and commercial insights, all in service of maintaining the West End’s global reputation as a flagship destination.

Ashley Hamilton is a retail expert with over 20 years of experience. As the Country Customer Care Manager for IKEA UK and Ireland, he oversees Omni Meeting Points, including RCMP, E-Commerce, Customer and Consumer Insights, and Experience.

Ashley’s career includes various Customer Relations Manager roles in the UK and significant positions in Portugal, such as Country Customer Information Manager and Experience and E-commerce Manager. His extensive background provides him with deep insights into customer experience and consumer behaviour, driving IKEA’s customer care strategy forward.

Over the last ten years at Primark, Kari’s role has revolved around driving strong UK store performance by delivering great retail experiences for Primark’s customers and colleagues, starting first in the North-West of England before becoming responsible for the entire UK business. Prior to this, she’s held senior regional and international roles at Debenhams, making up over 20 years of retail and store experience. Beyond her work, Kari lives with her husband and two daughters by the sea in North Wales where they enjoy spending time outdoors with activities including cycling, horse-riding and water-sports.

Kris leads the BRC insight offer for its members and subscribers. He joined the BRC in 2022, having worked within the industry for over 25 years. Kris started his career on the shop floor at Tesco and Waitrose and subsequently led insight and operational change teams at major UK retailers including Asda and SSP Group. He has an PhD in applied statistics from a study on retail data and is a visiting fellow of Henley Business School.

Kris is a champion of the opportunities the industry provides to people of all backgrounds and is passionate about simplifying complexity that enables understanding and drives action.

Helen Bliss is an independent transformation leader with more than two decades of experience delivering large-scale change in retail, energy, and the charity sector. She has held senior leadership roles at BP, Ocado, and Marks & Spencer, where she drove multi-million-pound transformation programmes, embedded new digital operating models, and delivered sustainable savings.

Today, Helen works independently and is leading a major multi-year transformation at one of the UK’s largest charities supporting people with sight loss. Her work spans the design and implementation of a new long-term strategy, the creation of a future-ready operating model, and the alignment of services, culture, and technology to improve reach and impact.

Neil is the co-founder and Global CEO of 21st Century Brand.

One of the world’s leading brand strategists. Neil formed 21CB with the team that built the Airbnb brand from hipster backpacker app to the world’s most valuable, influential travel brand IPOing for $100BN. He's proud to have led the development and global growth of a range of top tier brands such as Netflix, Monzo,Pinterest, Pepsico, Mars Wrigley and LEGO

A regular contributor to FastCo, Forbes, Neil sits on the ELG of the world’s leading marketing effectiveness body the IPA.

With more than two decades of brand and marketing experience, Neil’s insight has been shared at events such as SXSW, Web Summit, and Ciclope as well as on juries for the Global Effies, AICP and The Drum Content Awards. Neil has co-authored papers on industry topics such as The Business Case for Building an Iconic Brand, How to transform legacy leaders into future icons and Marketing in the Era of Collapsed Funnel

Neil is also a failed rock star and keen musician.

Professor Jens Nordfält is Professor of Retailing at the University of Bath, United Kingdom. His research focuses on retailing, both traditional bricks and mortar retailing and newer aspects such as digital retailing and omnichannel retailing. His research has been published in a number of journals and has also been rewarded for his achievements in building bridges between marketing academia and the retail industry, with a professional background in the retail sector.

Moon-Suck Song is the CEO and Co-Founder of Panagora, a digital agency specializing in Shopify based e-commerce solutions. Under his leadership, Panagora has grown into a trusted partner for global brands like Supreme, Stussy to SNS, Tekla, J.Lindeberg, Nordic Knots and Voo Store, delivering inspirational brand experiences ready for scale and global business. The agency opened its Swedish office 2005, Korean office in 2016 and Japan office in 2018 and boasts over 20 years of e-commerce expertise, https://panagora.agency/

Moon-Suck plays the ecommerce crossborder role and builds the bridge between East and West, Moon-Suck was born in Sweden to Korean parents. His journey is deeply rooted in retail heritage: while his family arrived in Sweden during Korea’s less prosperous era, his uncles were already manufacturing the iconic Fjällräven Kånken in Korea—a thin thread connecting past and present in global commerce.

As a recognized expert on digital transformation and consumer behaviour, Moon-Suck has has spoken at major industry stages—such as D-Congress main stage. He is recognised as a trusted advisor to investors, investment banks and multiple communities as Soho house. He is an active angel investor and founded multiple other businesses like Europe's largest fine art Photogallery among others.

Charlotte Hardie is the Editor-in-Chief of Retail Week, the UK’s leading authority on retail industry news, analysis, and insight. With a career spanning more than two decades in business journalism, Charlotte has become a prominent voice in the retail sector. She is passionate about supporting diversity in retail leadership and driving meaningful conversations about the future of the high street, digital transformation, and the wellbeing of the millions of people working in UK retail.

Since taking the helm at Retail Week, Charlotte has continued the publication’s digital transformation, championing data-led reporting and strategic content that informs and empowers retail leaders. Under her leadership, Retail Week has expanded its reach and influence, launching initiatives focused on innovation, sustainability, and leadership within the sector. She also spearheaded the launch of its in-house content marketing agency Retail Week Connect, which creates campaigns that tackle critical issues facing retailers.

Richard is Chief Executive Officer of Retail Economics, an independent economics research consultancy focused on the consumer and retail industry. Previously, Richard held the position of Chief Economist at the British Retail Consortium before heading up the Retail Insight and Analytics team. Richard has a wealth of experience in data analytics, retail insight, economics and consumer research. He was voted as a Top Ten Voice for LinkedIn for sharing his insights on the retail industry and is also voted a top retail expert by ReThink Retail for two years running, and a top 100 global voice about retail tech by RTIH.