Thursday 12 June, 2025 | The Minster Building, Cavendish Venues, London
2025 Efficiency Debate Agenda
Rising costs and competitive pressures continue to impact retail and slam profit margins. Looming tax hikes only add to cost concerns. Retail Gazette’s Efficiency Debate 2025 will explore how retailers are working to balance increasing cost scrutiny and budget changes with tech-enabled and culture-led transformation opportunities.
Providing unfiltered retail insight and takeaway action points alongside candid learnings and game changing solutions, join us for a deep dive into treading the line between optimising costs and maximising impact.
8:30 – 09:30AM | REGISTRATION & NETWORKING
09:30 – 09:35AM | WELCOME & INTRO
09:35 – 09:50AM | EFFICIENCY CONNECT
It’s all about you. Connect with peers and set your agenda for the day ahead.
09:50 – 10:30AM | STATE OF THE NATION – OPENING PANEL DISCUSSION
Efficiency, unfiltered: balancing the (unexpected) budget
From business rates to national insurance contributions and the larger-than-expected national living wage hike, retailers are facing significant financial challenges. Join us to dive into these and explore:
· What is the first-hand impact that retailers are anticipating and experiencing; what’s the knock-on effect for 2025 plans?
· How can today’s economic challenges be approached and tackled in a realistic way?
· Balancing investment in long-term growth and efficiency at a time when operational costs are in flux: Is there a ‘right’ way to do this?
Listen to unfiltered discussion around the impact of budget changes and submit your questions to the panel.
10:30 – 10:40AM | TAKE 10: WORD CLOUD & DISCUSSION
Share, benchmark and break down your thoughts with those in the room with you. Where should retail be investing for long-term, sustainable growth?
10:40 – 11:00AM | IDEAS PODIUMS – ROUND 1
Curated 20-minute insights into innovative tech and partnership opportunities that can boost your retail efficiency.
Choose between the two options below:
Stream 1: Operations & Logistics
The hidden costs of not considering store replenishment when designing your warehouse automation
Hear from:
Bassem Awada, VP business development, EXOTEC
Stream 2: Tech & Innovation
Efficiently manage brand assets and content for optimal ROI
Hear from:
speaker to be confirmed, Canto
11:00- 11:30AM | NETWORKING & REFRESHMENTS
11:30 – 11:50AM | THE EX-FILES: Deep dive insights from the other side
Efficiency has its place – but not to the detriment of customer experience
We dive into exclusive efficiency insights with a former retail leader.
In conversation with: Paul Sims, former CTO, Halfords: former chief architect, Primark; M&S
11:50AM – 12:30PM | PANEL DISCUSSION
Data and AI-led innovation investment: making the right decisions to enhance long-term efficiency and growth
While data and AI-led innovation can unlock unmatched opportunities to deliver retail insight, efficiency and growth, the options are vast – and budgets are not.
> Innovation needs investment: how should you assess the systems and processes that can be streamlined to make the right decisions around capex spend – and create a clear, cross-functional business case to move forward?
> Where do you begin, and how do you track and measure impact? Is experimentation an option when budgets are tight? How do you know where test-and-learn makes sense, in order to scale efficiencies?
> Data, data, data: outlining the importance of data quality and governance in ensuring your adoption of AI-led tech reaps maximum rewards
12:30 – 12:40PM | TAKE 10: AUDIENCE POLL & DISCUSSION
Where do you see the most potential for AI within your business?
Share, benchmark and break down your thoughts with those in the room with you.
12:40 – 13:00PM | IDEAS PODIUMS – ROUND 2
Curated 20-minute insights into innovative tech and partnership opportunities that can boost your retail efficiency.
Choose between the two options below:
Stream 1: Operations & Logistics
Check back for updates shortly
Stream 2: Tech & Innovation
Check back for updates shortly
13:00 – 14:00PM | LUNCH & REFRESHMENTS
14:00 – 14:30 | INDUSTRY DEBATE: WHERE DO YOUR PRIORITIES LIE?
What’s driving efficiency: tech or culture?
In an economic climate where maintaining margins is an increasing challenge, two industry leaders each join the podium to share opposing viewpoints on a key industry topic. Let’s be honest, it’s pretty boring when you hear from people who all think the same!
Listen in to challenge assumptions, gain fresh perspectives, and spark new ideas around what underpins efficiency!
PERSPECTIVE 1. Efficiency requires a culture shift
PERSPECTIVE 2. Efficiency requires a tech shift
14:30 – 14:45PM | AUDIENCE-LED FIRESIDE CHAT & INTERACTIVE VOTE
14:45 – 15:05PM | IDEAS PODIUMS – ROUND 3
Curated 20-minute insights into innovative tech and partnership opportunities that can boost your retail efficiency.
Choose between the two options below:
Stream 1: Operations & Logistics
Check back for updates shortly
Stream 2: Tech & Innovation
Check back for updates shortly
15:05 – 15:35PM | NETWORKING & REFRESHMENTS
15:35 – 16:05PM | IN CONVERSATION / CFO SPOTLIGHT
Join us for a candid discussion into today’s retail challenges and what comes next– no holds barred.
16:05 – 16:45PM | CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION
More than metrics: shaping tech-supported cultural transformation for long-term retail efficiency
Culture drives the bottom line. Despite data to back this up, the impact of retail culture can still be overlooked and undervalued in terms of its ROI. Join us for a closing deep dive into culture as a long-term driver of profit, productivity and innovation:
· Building a culture and leadership team that embraces change: outlining the value of a solid cultural foundation in ensuring business efficiency, and exploring how to define and foster the cultural behaviours that align with objectives
· Investing in tech to support your change goals, from removing silos to streamlining workflows and supporting collaboration
· Human / AI alignment: how can the two work most effectively side-by-side for a culture of continuous learning, innovation and improvement?
Hear from:
Leanne Cahill, CEO, Bravissimo
Simon Godwin, transformation director, Ocado Retail
William Lankston, managing director, Timpson Direct
16:45 – 16:50PM | TAKE 5: CLOSING WORD CLOUD & DISCUSSION
Share, benchmark and break down your thoughts with those in the room with you.
16:50 – 17:00 | EDITOR’S CLOSING COMMENTS
17:00 – 18:00 | JOIN US FOR DRINKS
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