Speakers

These are just a few of the speakers confirmed to speak at the 2024 Summit. Watch this space for further announcements.

Dorothée D’Herde, Director of Responsible Business, Kingfisher

Dorothée joined Kingfisher in March 2023 to lead the responsible business agenda across the four pillars of planet, customers, colleagues and community, as well as overseeing ESG reporting. She is also a Trustee at Earthwatch Europe, an environmental charity with science at its heart. Before Kingfisher, she led the sustainable business team at Vodafone Group to drive the delivery of Vodafone’s Purpose, its contribution to the SDGs and its ESG leadership roadmap. Dorothée moved to London to join McKinsey & Company in 2009, where she spent 10 years, first as Head of External Relations for the Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice and then as Director of Sustainability and Social Impact, overseeing the firm’s responsible business practices and its contribution to society. Before that, Dorothée worked in politics, public affairs and communications for the Belgian deputy prime minister, in the European Commission’s spokesperson service and at a public affairs agency.

Orla McGreevy, Divisional Sales Director, LoweConex

Orla is a frequent panelist and speaker at technology and retail transformation events across the UK and Ireland. With a career timeline that spans recruitment to retail assets and now software solutions, Orla has more than 10 years’ experience working with retailers across the industry spectrum to find streamlined solutions for businesses’ biggest challenges.

Passionate about the role of innovative technology within responsible business practices and armed with first-hand knowledge of just how complex retail environments can be, Orla offers a unique perspective on the practicality of implementing sustainability strategies at scale and the part prioritisation can play in accelerating positive progress.

David Abrahamovitch, Chief Executive and Founder, Grind 
 
David Abrahamovitch is the Chief Executive and Founder of cult London coffee brand Grind. In 2011, he turned his father’s mobile phone store in Shoreditch into a coffee shop, and being a “café by day, cocktail bar by night” turned Grind into a local hotspot. Now the company boasts 14 locations across London and sells millions of coffees each year via a thriving DTC and grocery business, helping thousands drink better coffee at home, in addition to being the exclusive supplier to Soho House. 

David’s vision is to grow Grind to become the leading at-home coffee brand, encouraging people to enjoy speciality coffee in a sustainable way.  Grind’s sustainability efforts go beyond its B Corp certification. With compostable coffee pods, ocean clean-up projects, recyclable packaging, ethical trading and sustainable farming practices, Grind is constantly working to do more good for the planet. 

David Ville, Group Carbon and Environment Manager, Currys

David is an experienced sustainability professional with well over a decade of experience delivering progress on sustainability. David is Carbon and Environment Manager at Currys and works across our circularity and carbon activities as a group. David has formerly worked for companies including Whitbread, Thomas Cook and Radley Yeldar, leading the strategic approach to ESG, governance and reporting. 

Helen White, Product and Brand Director, BAM Clothing

With fashion the second biggest global polluter, Helen White believes the industry is now on the cusp of a seminal shift towards a lower-impact way of operating. Following a long career in lifestyle clothing brands, she is now bringing her expertise to B Corp business BAM to create a blueprint for how we make lower-impact clothing.

Helen is leading BAM’s product and brand teams to create innovative activewear that is much less reliant on the virgin fossil fuels that performance clothing typically exploits. Under her tenure, BAM has created ground-breaking and award-winning circular clothing, and closed the loop by guaranteeing a recycling route for every item in their 73 Zero range. She has driven the painstaking work of mapping BAM’s entire supply chain back to the source fibre, which allows the company to take responsibility for every step of the clothing process. All this is shared transparently with customers through BAM’s latest launch, BAM DNA.

Kamal Miah, Head of ESG, Matalan

Kamal Miah joined Matalan in July 2024 as the retailer’s Head of ESG. He brings over 12 years of extensive experience in ESG, having held leadership roles at companies such as Tata Steel, Jaguar Land Rover, FirstGroup and RS Group.

A people-centric leader with a strong commitment to social equality, Kamal is spearheading Matalan’s ESG strategy, ensuring a focus on both sustainability and inclusivity. 

Matt Hanrahan, Co-founder, Reskinned

Matt Hanrahan, Co-Founder of Reskinned, is passionate about creating a more sustainable clothing world. He’s been involved in consumer marketing and innovative technology development for more than 20 years. From his wealth of in-depth knowledge of innovative tech, Reskinned was founded. The company offers brands and their customers better ways to continue the lifecycle of their garments, and strives to develop smarter, more effective circular textile systems

She is Vice-Chair of the Pets Foundation, the largest grant giver to Pet Rescues in the UK and a past Chair of a Veterinary Education Charity. Catriona holds the CFA ESG Investing certificate and is currently undertaking a Masters in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.

Amy Whidburn, ESG Director, Pets at Home

John Bradshaw, Head of Engineering and Standards, Co-op 

As Head of Engineering and Standards at the Co-op, John is responsible for leading a team to deliver engineering design standards, asset strategies, energy efficiency investments, legal compliance and engineering specifications in more than 4,000 premises for the consumer co-operative.

John brings over 30 years of industry experience, having led award-winning teams and spearheaded engineering and energy efficiency projects across retail, commercial, industrial, education, healthcare and public sectors.

Natasha Fry, Head of Sales, Mer UK

Natasha joined Mer as the Head of Strategic Accounts following Mer’s acquisition of Elmtronics in April 2022, bringing over 20 years of experience of working with fleets. She is responsible for managing the relationships between Mer and some of the UK’s largest private sector organisations, including several FTSE 250 businesses. Natasha’s mission is to enable the transition of large EV fleets by ensuring that no stone is left un-turned when EV charging infrastructure is critical to the operation. She is passionate about providing expertise and advice to businesses at every stage of their electrification journey.

Esther Knight, Founder and Chief Executive, Fanfare Label

Esther Knight is the Founder and Chief Executive of Fanfare Label, an independent sustainable fashion house leading the way for circularity and positive change. Circularity, longevity and innovation drive the design of every one-of-a-kind creation at Fanfare Label and its award-winning collections are the go-to for those seeking seasonless, contemporary clothing.  

Having won the Marie Clare Sustainable Fashion Award for Best Sustainable Denim Brand, Esther’s brand has been featured at London Fashion Week, is currently stocked in Liberty London and was stocked at Selfridges as part of its Upcycling campaign. 

Megan Dunsby, Senior Commercial Content Editor, Retail Week  

Megan Dunsby is Retail Week’s Senior Commercial Content Editor and has overseen the Sustainability Summit since its launch in 2022. A former journalist and Features Editor, she joined Retail Week in January 2019 to help brands leverage content to reach the people that matter in retail. Megan also leads Retail Week’s flagship reports, the Retail 100 and the Tech List, which recognise the most influential people in the sector and the businesses they represent. Megan has been named by Acquisition International as an Influential Businesswoman for two years running (2024 and 2023).  

Jade O’Donoghue, Event Director, Retail Week 

Jade is Event Director at Retail Week and leads the content and direction of Retail Week's flagship annual conference and awards ceremony. She has an MA and an NCTJ diploma, both in journalism, and previously worked as a writer and editor covering the education sector.

James Knowles, Head of Content Innovation, Retail Week 

James is Head of Content Innovation at Connect, Retail Week’s content marketing business. He leads the innovation strategy for the brand’s commercial content, devising new content and event products, formats and campaigns. Strategising creative solutions to meet client needs – be they brand awareness, lead generation or both – James has worked with some of the largest companies, including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce and PwC. 

Leading projects from pitch to publish as project manager, James handles annual campaigns such as the flagship report Retail 2025, for which he interviews more than 40 UK CEOs every year and chairs an associated breakfast, and Retail Week’s community Clubhouses, his most recent new product launch. He personally oversees the Digital and Marketing Clubhouses. He also chairs panels, speaks at events and delivers client presentations. 

James has spent 16 years working across business trade titles, and consumer celebrity and lifestyle magazines, including Australia’s longest-running women’s and celebrity title New Idea and fashion business publication Drapers, before joining Retail Week Connect in 2017. 

Chloe Mills, Reporter, Retail Week

Chloe Mills is a Reporter at Retail Week. She joined in 2023 and covers all things fashion.

She was previously a writer and researcher on the celebrity desk at The Media Eye and began her career as a features writer at luxury lifestyle magazine Aspire. Chloe has a BA Hons in multimedia journalism from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Ritika Bhoora, Reporter, Retail Week

Ritika Bhoora is a Reporter at Retail Week.