Dave McCabe has had a long and impressive journey with IKEA, which started in the UK when he joined the opening of the Lakeside store in 1996. Since then, he has built broad international experience across IKEA in North America and Europe, in country and global leadership roles across Expansion, Commercial, Retail Logistics, Innovation and Retail Management. Dave then went on to become CEO for IKEA Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia for four years, with a strong focus on developing people, strengthening performance and leading with IKEA values at the core. 

Prior to joining IKEA UK, Dave served as the Global Fulfilment & Core Services Manager for Ingka Group, leading IKEA’s global Fulfilment team. Together with the IKEA UK and Ireland team, he is focused on working together to shape the future of retail in this very important IKEA global market.

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

Helen leads the team and sets the strategic direction of the BRC. She joined in January 2013 and has been working with retailers for over 25 years. In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Retail.

Helen is passionate about diversity and inclusion in retail, she acts as the BRC’s Social Mobility Commission ambassador and was previously the Chair of Working Chance, a charity helping women offenders find employment. She is on the advisory board for Pennies, a charity which offers digital charity boxes to businesses, and was previously UK Head of Retail at KPMG.

Sara Tate is a globally recognized leader in brand and business transformation, helping global giants like PepsiCo and Starbucks transform to meet consumers’ changing needs.

A multi award winning agency CEO, Sara led the turnaround of TBWA London, driving sustained growth and creative reinvention. She is now Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Common Interest Group, where she brings together the group’s agencies and capabilities to develop new solutions to the changing needs of clients and their businesses.

Ellis is features editor at Retail Week, leading the features desk which produces long reads, rankings and profile interviews with some of retail’s most influential leaders. She oversees Retail Week’s annual flagship editorial content, including Retail Leaders' 100 Favourite Stores, the Retail Staff Pay Index, and the UK's Fastest-Growing Retailers report. 

Ellis began her journalism career as a reporter in her home town of Glasgow, working on a variety of titles including The Clydebank Post and The Glasgow Journal.

Before joining Retail Week, Ellis was digital and social editor at Retail Week’s sister title The Grocer, where she led the magazine's online editorial content.

George Arnett is the Intelligence & Insights Editor at Retail Week, overseeing the title’s data-driven coverage and intelligence feeds. His reporting focuses on economics, digital transformation and how AI is changing the industry. George was the first data editor at luxury fashion publication Vogue Business, a reporter on the Guardian’s data desk and covered multiple elections for German newspaper Die Welt. He authors Retail Week’s weekly Intelligence Briefing newsletter. 

Eleonora Pantano, PhD, is Associate Professor (Reader) in Retail and Marketing Technology, and Deputy Head (Research) for Marketing&Consumption Academic Group at University of Bristol Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in “Psychology of Programming and Artificial Intelligence”. 

Her research focuses on the development of new retail technologies and algorithms that improve customer solutions and insights, and on advancing our understanding of how technology, and artificial intelligence in particular, shapes consumers. Her work appears in several books and textbooks, and in international peer-reviewed journals. She serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services since 2024

Ned Gammell is VP of Sales for the UK at Quinyx. He has spent over 15 years across the UK and US working with global mid-market and enterprise retailers to drive business change through workforce technology. He previously spent seven years leading Quinyx's US retail business, partnering with brands including J.Crew, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Victoria's Secret to improve operational efficiency and frontline workforce innovation.

At Haypp Group since 2017, Svante is President UK and Deputy CEO. He holds an MSc in Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and has extensive experience in finance and e-commerce, having served as CFO of several leading e-commerce companies, including Snusbolaget, as well as working as a Controller at Swedish Match and an Analyst at Momentum Capital Management.

Charles Allen is a Senior Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, a real-time, interactive industry research platform available on the Bloomberg Professional services at BI <GO>. He specializes in global food retail and European general retailers.

Prior to joining Bloomberg in 2011, Mr. Allen worked at a research boutique, Consumer Equity Research, where he was a principal and global food retail analyst. During his 10 years in investment management, Mr. Allen was a buy-side equity research analyst at Commerzbank Asset Management and at Crédit Agricole Asset Management, where he developed an overview of the global retail sector. Mr. Allen also worked at Wood McKenzie and Merrill Lynch Europe, where he covered several sub-sectors of retailing, including UK stores, UK food retail, European retail and European food retail. He began his career in retail at Management Horizons Inc. in Columbus, Ohio.

Mr. Allen earned his Master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Patrick is Head of RPC’s Employment, Engagement and Equality practice and co-lead of our corporate governance practice. Patrick is one of the UK’s leading litigators with a particular focus on business protection and restraint of trade. He has led cases in the UK Supreme Court on three separate occasions. He appears regularly in the Court of Appeal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. The cases he has acted on have changed the law in the UK and internationally. His practice, also, covers State and Diplomatic immunity.

He helps companies resolve complex workforce issues, especially with a collective or trade union element. Patrick is equally at home in advising on domestic, European and global integration, outsourcing and restructuring projects. Clients turn to Patrick and his team for advice on significant workforce change programmes, most often affecting large numbers of employees. He has advised the UK Government on trade union relations in the circumstances of large-scale public sector reform programmes. Patrick has acted as the quasi-HR Director for a high-profile group, engaging over 30,000 people in the UK.

Patrick is a leading employment lawyer for both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. He is, also, a leading Corporate Governance lawyer for Legal 500. 

James O’Hare is VP of Sales at Sitoo, where he helps retailers simplify complex technology and create shopping experiences that flow across every channel. With more than a decade of experience in customer experience technology and a track record of building and scaling new markets, James is passionate about freeing up store teams to focus on customers, improving retail operations and keeping the customer at the heart of every interaction.

A Senior Project Manager specialising in leading complex, cross-functional programmes that bring together People, Operations, Technology and Commercial teams to deliver measurable business outcomes.

With extensive experience translating complex concepts into clear, actionable plans for senior leaders and operational teams. She combines strong project governance with stakeholder engagement, and change management, helping organisations move from insight to implementation.

Her expertise includes labour strategy, operational efficiency, customer journey mapping, self-service adoption, benefits realisation and cross-country programme delivery. Known for her collaborative and practical approach, she excels at aligning diverse stakeholders around shared goals and turning strategic concepts into scalable operational improvements.