2018 Speakers
Chairman:
Tom Fender
Director,
Bolt Learning
Tom has over 25 years’ experience in the UK convenience and wholesale sector and is former co-owner of HIM shopper research consultancy. He returns as Chair having presided over #ThinkSmart1.
Tom has travelled the world, working with both regional and international retailers, wholesalers and suppliers to help improve their business. His travels have exposed him to many ways that technology is used in different countries to better service the shopper, improve customer experience and drive efficiencies.
He is passionate about the convenience sector and his role at Bolt has shifted his focus from the shopper to the people that serve them, and how technology can drive their performance.
Tom Hall
Retailer Analytics and Consulting Practice Leader, IRI Worldwide
Tom Hall has worked across the globe in both developed and developing markets dedicated to helping retailers and manufacturers optimise their price, media, promotion and ranging strategies.
He has a wealth of experience and has specialised in rolling out data analytics to new markets, working on convenience business optimisation across Africa, Asia, Americas and Europe.
Tom currently leads the Retailer Analytics and Consulting Practice at IRI, driving the development of tailored business optimisation packages for the UK convenience sector.
Enda McShane
CEO and Founder,
Velocity Worldwide
Enda McShane is CEO and founder of Velocity Worldwide. The company uses creative marketing and personalisation technology to help retailers grow their business.
Velocity’s Darius platform supports every stage of the customer journey to deliver measurable ROI for a broad range of clients.
Prior to founding Velocity, Enda held various senior marketing titles with London Events Agency and Archer Leisure. He is a thought leader and accomplished speaker across the retail marketing, shopping centre marketing and customer engagement industries.
Paul Mercieca
Chairman, Hi Street Digital Media
Paul is best known as Founder Chairman of multi-award winning London integrated communications agency Mercieca which was founded in 1995. Mercieca was voted The Grocer’s best agency in a number of categories for 15 successive years as well as being named The Drum’s best integrated agency in 2015, going on to win the Best Integrated Campaign for their work on Tia Maria the following year.
Paul launched in-store integrated digital screen business Hi Street Digital Media at the beginning of 2017 after testing the concept in major independent convenience stores across the UK. The year-long trial was so successful that at the end not a single retailer wished to withdraw from the initiative. The trial was then rolled out nationally and features in stores across the UK generating additional sales and footfall.
Katie Jenkins
Head of Customer Proposition, Bolt Learning
Katie is responsible for developing the customer proposition at online training provider Bolt Learning. Bolt’s mission is to help retailers and wholesalers improve their business by leveraging technology to grow their people. The company works with key retailers and wholesalers like Brakes, JJ Foodservice, Parfetts and Lifestyle Express.
She has worked in UK convenience and wholesale for over 15 years. Her expertise spans from shopper research and in-store experience through to people development.
Bolt’s smarter training solutions offer an extensive range of online modules containing realistic scenarios, immersive stories and engaging graphics, combined with trainee and performance analytics, to inspire behavioural change, ensure compliance and drive productivity.
Gerry Hooper
CEO, Zapper UK
Gerry Hooper joined Zapper in 2014 with over 20 years’ experience, working in many sectors including Payments, Food, Entertainment and Retail. He has helped transform the company from a small tech start-up to a thriving commercial business.
Using his extensive experience, knowledge and tactical sales capability, Gerry has developed and successfully implemented Zapper’s strategic, fast-moving and scalable plans for a ubiquitous mobile payment and marketing insight solution aimed at different UK verticals.
Focusing on launching throughout retail convenience, Gerry’s enthusiasm and passion for Zapper ensure the senior team is aligned in their vision, goals and future business plans.
Stephen Burnett
MD and Founder,
The Retail Data Partnership
Twenty years in the independent retail sector has confirmed Stephen’s belief that independent retailers have an important role to play in the UK, and need to use technology and their personal service to defend their livelihoods against ever-growing competition.
The Retail Data Partnership is one of the largest suppliers of EPoS to the convenience retail sector in the UK.
Its ShopMate EPoS system is designed to take the work out of running EpoS in-store, and to provide retailers with the key information they need to build the profits of their business.
Steve O’Neill
Group Marketing Director, PayPoint
Steve leads the development of PayPoint’s strategic marketing, consumer insight, media relations and brand agendas.
Prior to joining PayPoint, Steve gained extensive experience as a marketing leader in the financial services, telecoms and retail sectors, holding senior roles at HSBC, Carphone Warehouse, Orange and John Lewis. He is passionate about technology, retail and shopper behaviour.
PayPoint is a retail technology and payment services provider, present in over 29,000 convenience stores across the UK, with a further 10,000 in Romania. Its new PayPoint One platform, which combines EPoS, card payments and PayPoint services, is now live in over 7,000 UK stores.
Mike Callachan
Founder,
Snappy Shopper
Mike Callachan has been building web technology for nearly two decades. Mike holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Internet Computer Science from the University of St Andrews.
He is the founder of one of Scotland’s largest digital companies: mtc. The business currently employs over 100 web experts in its offices in Edinburgh and Dundee, and is responsible for the Snappy Shopper app.