PRESENTATION  Tony will open the conference, introducing the major themes of the morning and drawing on his perspective as the CEO of Javelin Group to describe the changes across the sector and the strategies necessary for success.

BIOGRAPHY  Tony is the founder and CEO of Javelin Group, Europe’s largest specialist firm of retail strategy consultants. After an early career as a strategy consultant and an MBA at Harvard Business School, Tony established Javelin Group at the beginning of the ecommerce revolution in 1997 to help major retailers to embrace ecommerce and multi-channel retail.

Many years on, the business continues to operate right at the centre of the retail revolution and now employs over 200 consultants advising retailers and brands all over the world on their digital transformation, focusing especially on their omni-channel and digital strategies, operations and technologies, and on their store formats and estates.

Clients include most of the UK’s top 20 retailers across all categories – both food and non-food – and a long list of retail and brand leaders from across Europe, North America, the Middle East, China and Australia.

PRESENTATION  As the Chief Digital Officer of Home Retail Group, Bertrand Bodson represents a new role at the top table of one of the UK’s leading omni-channel retailers. Bertrand will describe how he was brought into Argos by its new CEO in July 2013 to oversee its digital transformation and how, in this capacity, he has overseen the introduction of new digital store formats, the development of Argos’s strategic relationship with eBay, and the opening of a new digital hub in the heart of London to attract and retain digital talent, among numerous other digital initiatives.

BIOGRAPHY  Bertrand joined Argos as its first ever Digital Director in July 2013, a role central to bringing to life Argos’ transformation strategy to become a digital retail leader and make its digital channels – online, mobile and tablet – the primary experiences for customers alongside the national store network.

Bertrand joined Argos from EMI where he was Executive Vice President, Global Digital, responsible for the deployment of digital platfoms, driving strategy and insight from the centre and creating innovative new digital formats.  Prior to that, Bertrand spent four years with Amazon in the US and Europe, where he built its European DVD rental business (now LoveFilm).

Bertrand has also consulted with the Boston Consulting Group and was co-founder of Bragster.com, the largest social community for ‘bragging, boasting and daring’ (now owned by Guinness World Records).

Bertrand is a native of Belgium and was educated at Harvard Business School.

PRESENTATION  Laura is arguably the UK’s most experienced omni-channel director, having come to Marks & Spencer in 2011 as Executive Director, Multi-Channel after 8 years as CEO of Tesco.com. Under Laura’s stewardship, M&S has invested heavily in and significantly grown its omni-channel capability and share of sales. Laura will describe M&S’s omni-channel journey and trajectory, including the rationale for her taking, in June 2014, the additional responsibility for UK retail overall.

BIOGRAPHY  Laura joined the Marks & Spencer Board in July 2011. Laura was previously at Tesco plc where she held a variety of senior roles from 1997. She was the CEO of Tesco.com for seven years. Prior to that she was Group Strategy Director and the Marketing Director, Clubcard. Prior to joining Tesco, Laura worked at Gemini Consulting and Kleinwort Benson. She is currently a member of the council of Aldeburgh Music. Laura was also a Non-Executive Director of Trinity Mirror from 2006 until May 2012.

PRESENTATION  Brian will discuss the key changes in the retail sector and how retail will evolve over the coming 5 years, drawing on his unparalleled experience as Chairman of ASOS, senior independent NED of AO.com and former MD of Amazon UK. Brian will join Tony on stage in a discussion of ASOS, Amazon and AO.com and the impact of such fast-growing dotcoms on the international retail scene.

BIOGRPHY  Brian is the Chairman of ASOS PLC, the leading on-line fashion retailer, appointed in October 2012. He is also Senior Non-Executive Director at Computacenter PLC, Senior Non-Executive Director at AO.com PLC and is Senior Adviser with Scottish Equity Partners.

Brian is also a member of the Advisory Board of Huawei UK, the UK subsidiary of the Chinese Global Communications provider, and a member of the Advisory Board of Numis PLC, the leading Investment bankers and stockbrokers.

He is also a member of the UK Government’s Digital Advisory Board, established in April 2012 to help steer the digital delivery of Government services to citizens in the UK, a member of British Airways International Advisory Board, and a member of the Court (Governing Body) of the University of Glasgow.

Brian left Amazon.co.uk in September 2011 having joined the company in January 2006 as Managing Director, and leading it through its high growth period. He began his career with Xerox and subsequently worked in Senior Executive/VP roles at IBM, Crosfield Electronics, Madge Networks, Dell Computers and as Managing Director of T-Mobile (UK).

He has been a Non-Executive Director of Celtic Football Club PLC and SThree PLC, and has recently stepped down after completing a term as Non-Executive Director on the Board of the BBC. Brian is 58 years old, married with two daughters and lives in Camberley, Surrey. He has an MA (Hons) in Economic History from the University of Glasgow.