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Insight NACS Future of International Convenience & Petroleum Retailing 2010

FICR Programme - Speaker schedule 22nd September (PDF document)

Wednesday 22nd September
Convenience Conference & Exhibition sponsored by Torex

Conference Chairman: Deborah Robinson

A passionate food marketer with over 25 years retail experience. As Director of Food Marketing at the UK's Co-operative Group, Deborah developed formats including layout, macro space allocation, merchandising and design for petrol forecourts, convenience stores and supermarkets. She delivered a programme of over 700 refits per annum for three consecutive years delivering significant return on investment . The Co-operative Group won the prestigious "Convenience chain of the YEAR" award for the last two years.

While at the Co-operative Group Deborah developed a 3000 plus own branded product range with clear quality tiers providing customers with real choice and value for money. She introduced competitive advantage with a number of unique sub brands including "Grown by us" and "Truly Irresistible" delivering improved productivity and profitability. Deborah is committed to food quality, safety and integrity and serves on the Council of Campden BRC, an authority in food and drink research and is also a member of The Food Ethics Council.

She is best known for her brave and pioneering approach to "Responsible Retailing". Deborah developed the first BUAV approved toiletries back in the late 80's. She introduced the first front of pack nutritional labelling and higher welfare standards for chicken, famously appearing with celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fernley Whittingstall on the UK's Channel 4 TV. Deborah has developed long term sustainable trading relationships for key commodities in Africa, India and Central America, using scenario planning to develop long term thinking and "customer journey " techniques to deliver short term goals.

She is well practiced in all aspects of marketing communications including TV and a wealth of experience of business integration most recently with Somerfield. Deborah has a real understanding of customer responses to business change and how to manage these effectively.

Conference Programme

Edward Garner
Communications Director, Kantar Worldpanel

Rather than being a pure ‘Market Researcher’, Ed’s background is in Sales, National Accounts and Marketing; experience which he gained within Unilever. This means that he is keenly aware of the need to present findings in a clear and actionable manner. His ability to do this is supported by feedback from conference appearances across Europe, USA, Australasia, Asia Pacific and South America for numerous organisations including IGD, Citigroup, McKinsey, PwC, Marketing Week, ADMAP, AGRA, NFU, The Grocer and many leading UK FMCG clients in addition to occasional radio and TV work.

Edward is married with two grown-up daughters and has calculated that he constitutes the 25% of his family which is not in the teaching profession.

Dr Gordon Campbell
CEO, Spar International

Dr. Gordon R. Campbell, Chief Executive Officer, SPAR International, is responsible for the world-wide development and co-ordination of the SPAR organisation. SPAR is the world’s largest organisation of independent retailers with over 12,600 SPAR stores in 33 countries. In 2008 SPAR had global annual retail sales of €27 billion.

Gordon Campbell has mainly focused on the development of SPAR as a global retail brand, which includes the sponsorship of European Athletics, unique international TV campaigns and international promotions. He has been responsible for the expansion of SPAR into Eastern European and Asian markets. He has put in place "Towards 2010", a strategy which sets out a vision for the future development of SPAR. The current focus is on the development of SPAR in the emerging markets of China, India and Russia.

Previously, Gordon Campbell was Sales and Marketing Director of BWG Foods Ltd and a Director of SPAR Ireland. He has a PhD in Biochemistry from Trinity College, Dublin.

Anthony Wysome
CEO, Waitrose Convenience

Anthony has been Head of Convenience Waitrose since the format was established in early 2008. He joined the John Lewis Partnership in 2006 to lead the development of the first John Lewis Food Hall in Oxford Street and the work to develop a new look for Waitrose stores in London.

Anthony started his career with Sainsburys where after time in Buying and Strategy he held senior management roles as Head of Trading Finance and Head of Home & Entertainment Buying. He spent 2 years working as a consultant prior to his time in the Partnership.

Nigel Mills
CEO, Mills Group

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne and studied economics accountancy and law at Lancaster University, graduating in 1980.

Between 1980 and 1984 worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Newcastle office qualifying as a chartered accountant and then moved to their London office to work in the city between 1984 and 1986.

Between 1986 and 2010 Nigel has built a national chain of retail convenience stores, eighty five in number, based near Newcastle upon Tyne and has grown turnover from £2 million per year to over £100 million in the past twenty three years.

In 2008 Mills Group Limited won the prestigious Grocery Gold Award (for Independent Retailer of the Year 2008).

Nigel is married to Susan and has two children a boy and a girl aged eleven.

Don Longo
Editor-in-Chief, Convenience Store News

Don Longo is Editor-in-Chief of Convenience Store News and CSNews for the Single Store Owner. He also serves as Editorial Director for the Food Group of Stagnito Media.

Don has covered retailing for almost 30 years as a reporter, editor and publisher. He co-founded and directs the content development for the Hispanic Retail 360 Conference, now in its sixth year. Previously, he spearheaded the editorial efforts at a variety of business publications covering the mass, drug, grocery, and specialty store retailing.

Don is the former publisher of Retail Merchandiser, covering the mass retail channel. He also served as chief editor of National Home Center News, and executive editor of Discount Store News. He has given presentations to business groups throughout the U.S., Europe and South America, appeared as a guest on the Fox Business News cable TV channel, received a Certificate of Merit from the Food Marketing Institute, and conducted face-to-face interviews with many prominent business personalities, including the late Sam Walton and Martha Stewart, among many others. He also is a member of the judging panel for the 2010 International Convenience Retailer of the Year award.

In 2008, as editor of Convenience Store News, Don accepted the American Business Media’s Jesse Neal Award Winner for Best Full Issue of the Year. Under Don’s direction, his publications won the William D. Littleford Award for Community Service Journalism from the American Business Media in 1999, 2007 and 2008. He has won numerous other editorial awards over his career.

Don is frequently quoted in the national and local media on the subjects of retailing and consumer trends. He lives in Ossining, N.Y., with his wife, Susan. He has a son, a daughter, and one grandson.

Henry Armour
President & CEO, NACS

Henry Armour is president and CEO of NACS - The Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing. In the United States, the more than 144,000 convenience stores across the country posted $624.5 billion in total sales in 2008, with $408.9 billion in motor fuels sales.

Armour assumed his position as president and CEO of NACS in 2005, after spending his entire career in the convenience and petroleum retailing industry. He began his career at his family’s retail automotive and wholesale transportation businesses, Armour Oil Company, where he managed retail service stations and transportation facilities, negotiated labor contracts, oversaw the company’s petroleum supply system, and handled government affairs. He was named vice president and chief operating officer of the company in 1977.

In 1980, Armour joined The Standard Oil Company of Ohio where he served as manager of development strategies. Three years later, he founded West Star Corporation, which grew to include NOW! convenience stores, truck stops and quick service restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. He sold the company in 2004. Prior to becoming president and CEO, Armour was long active in the volunteer leadership of NACS, serving two one-year terms as NACS chairman of the board (2001-2003), as treasurer/chairman-elect and vice chairman of research & development, as well as chairman of the Technology and Education Sessions committees, and was a member of the association’s Category Management and Future Study 2000 committees.

Armour earned a B.A. in economics from Stanford University in 1973. A year later he earned a M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics, and then returned to Stanford to earn an M.B.A. in 1976 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1977.

He has two children, Elizabeth and Philip.

Tom Fender
Director, him!

Tom Fender is a director at him! research & consulting along with Mike Greene. Tom has been with the company since 1997, and conducted a management buyout with Mike Greene in October 2003.

The company is passionate about shoppers and shopping, retailers and retailing – and interviews around 100,000 consumers, shoppers or retailers each year to become best informed advisors to our 75 client organisations.

We operate a number of syndicated tracking programmes in convenience, wholesale, discounter retailing, pubs & bars and small supermarkets, as well as conducting in excess of 30 confidential bespoke research-based studies each year.

Mark Wohltmann
Client Director, USP

Mark Wohltmann is currently the Head of Client Service at USP market intelligence. Since joining USP Mark has played a major role in setting up USP and the USP retail panels. He works as an advisor for his clients being an expert on the convenience markets and tobacco industry, particularly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He writes articles for trade publications and regularly gives presentations and speeches at national and international conferences.

Prior to USP Mark worked for Combera in Munich where he worked with a focus on sales and channel management consulting. Before this he worked in the field of sales advertising and trade marketing at Dorland in Berlin. Mark started his career in the advertising industry with Grey und BBDO in Duesseldorf after studying business administration at the University of Siegen and being trained in Client Service.

USP market intelligence / The Nielsen Company
USP is the leading market research and consulting company specialising on the convenience and tobacco markets in the main German speaking countries. Currently it operates as a competence centre for convenience and tobacco within The Nielsen Company.

USP has the biggest convenience retail panel in Germany and consults clients on marketing and sales strategies as well as category and shop management. USP launched and operates the “Convenience Akademie”.

Joe Barrett
Director, Applegreen Ireland

Joe is very well known in the forecourt and convenience retail trade. Since setting up Petrogas with Bob Etchingham in 1992, he has been the face of the company, as well as its overall Operations Director. He has been instrumental in the creation and success of the Applegreen brand. Joe is a regular presenter at industry conferences and a member of numerous retail groups including CSNA and Retail Excellence. He has become a regular spokesman for the industry on many important issues.

Applegreen is a private Irish company and is Ireland’s largest independent forecourt retailer with 53 sites trading in the Republic of Ireland and an expanding network in the UK. It has grown rapidly since establishing the Applegreen brand in 2004. The company expects its business in the UK to be bigger than that in Ireland

Applegreen is part of The SuperStop Consortium which was recently awarded an Ireland Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract to design, build, finance, maintain and operate six Motorway Service Areas by the Ireland National Roads Authority. The new 24 hour service areas will be located on the M1 at Castlebellingham, Co. Louth and Lusk, Co Dublin and on the M4 at Enfield, Co. Kildare. Each of the six service areas will incorporate separate fuelling areas for cars and HGVs, a restaurant and deli, a shop, customer services, significant parking facilities, child play areas and picnic areas.

Exhibitors include: