2024 Judges
Ashlee Aldridge
CEO of Reach Partners LLC
Ashlee Aldridge is the CEO of Reach Partners LLC, a fast-growing, woman-owned management consulting firm that provides global companies with business and technology strategy, transformations, digital enablement, and C-suite leadership.
Ashlee is a visionary CEO and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience as a C-suite executive with Fortune 50 and 100 retailers. A proven leader with a demonstrated history of transforming organizations and delivering results, she has won numerous accolades and industry awards and was listed as the Top Ten Women in Retail Technology. Ashlee regularly provides strategic guidance to CEOs and Boards seeking to rapidly transform their businesses, accelerate growth, and adapt to the evolving needs of the market, industry, and modern consumer.
She is a trusted board member on public and private company boards and a highly sought-after speaker on retail technology, trends, and transformation.
Ian Jindal
Founder & Editor in Chief, InternetRetailing
Ian is a dedicated researcher and analyst specializing in the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) market. His work primarily revolves around comprehensive studies conducted through prominent outlets such as InternetRetailing and RetailX. He meticulously delves into the intricacies of the market, closely tracking and assessing the performance of Europe's Top 1000 retailers and brands, as well as the Global Elite 1000. Ian's contributions are instrumental in producing essential reports like the annual benchmark European eCommerce Market Report.
Furthermore, his year-round involvement with the ConsumerX Observatory ensures a continuous and dynamic understanding of the entire sector, encompassing retailers, market dynamics, consumer behavior, and supplier insights. His work offers valuable insights into the ever-evolving D2C landscape.
Sandrine Deveaux
Advisor at Farfetch, Innovation and Future Retail
Sandrine is at the helm of New Retail & Innovation in Luxury Fashion. Currently advisor at Farfetch, she was the former Executive Vice President of Innovation, where she was responsible for developing, executing and implementing new retail and digital consumer experiences with strategic brands, tech platforms and start-ups. Sandrine also sat on the Farfetch Executive Board. Under Sandrine’s leadership, the team has been focused on developing a pioneering mix of technology that will shape the retail experience of the future. Her marketing, omni-channel and e-commerce expertise was honed in her previous roles at Harvey Nichols as multi-channel director and director of marketing and e-commerce at Matchesfashion.com. Sandrine also previously held roles at AOL, Bloomberg Media and Ernst & Young.
Ashlee is a visionary CEO and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience as a C-suite executive with Fortune 50 and 100 retailers.
Miya Knights
Owner & Publisher, Retail Technology Magazine
Miya Knights has over 25 years' experience as a retail technology analyst, editor, author and consultant. She is the owner and publisher of Retail Technology magazine and has co-authored two best-selling books about Amazon and Omnichannel Retail. Miya serves as a consultant and advisor to a number of technology companies, judges a number of industry awards, and is also a member of the Retail Influencer Network, Customer Strategy Network and the KPMG Retail Think Tank.
Miya regularly appears as a retail technology expert on news and current affairs television programmes, and is quoted in the press, as well as moderating or speaking at industry events. She was also recognised as 2021 Arts & Media Senior Leader by the Black British Business Awards, and has been named one of top retail influencers by the Retail Technology Innovation Hub and RETHINK Retail in 2024.
Martin Newman
Founder, The Customer First Group
As the Consumer Champion and founder of www.customerserviceaction.com, Martin is a force for positive change for both consumers and brands.
He appears regularly on BBC TV and Radio, on Sky, ITV, Channel 5 and a host of other media channels such as LBC, The Times and FT to discuss various consumer issues relating to the retail, travel, casual dining, automotive and financial services sectors.
Martin has leveraged his 39 years of experience working in consumer sectors heading up the multichannel operations of some of the world’s leading brands including Burberry, Intersport, Pentland Brands (Speedo, Berghaus), Harrods and Ted Baker to author the bestselling book 100 Practical Ways to Improve Customer Experience, which was shortlisted for the Business Book of the Year Awards. His new book, The Power of Customer Experience was published in May 2021.,
He also now runs a mini MBA in customer centricity with the Oxford College of Leadership and Management and Oxford College of Marketing.
Matt Bradley
Director & Founder, Retail Technology Show
If you’ve been in any way involved in a retail tech exhibition or conference over the past 10 years, chances are you’ll be familiar with the name Matt Bradley.
Matt launched the ground-breaking RBTE in 2011 (later rebranded to Retail Expo ) which within 2 years became the largest show of its kind in Europe. Matt currently sits at helm of the Retail Technology Show, the UK's largest an most influential retail event, which takes place every April in London.
With a renowned track record of bringing together the right vendor to the right retailer and with a black book to die for Matt continues to be at the forefront of all things retail.
John Douglas
Chief Technology Officer, Gymshark
John Douglas is Chief Technology Officer at Gymshark, a leading fitness clothing and accessories brand, retailer and manufacturer.
As Chief Technology Officer, John leads efforts to establish the groundwork for Gymshark's enterprise and digital architectures in order to support the company's continued global expansion. He also supervises the corporation's technology team.
Prior to joining Gymshark in 2021, John was Chief Technology Officer at fashion brand Tory Burch, where he lead large digital and enterprise transformations; and Chief Information Officer at MCM Worldwide. Previously, he served as Chief Technology Officer at Burberry Group where he was instrumental in driving the brand's digital experiences and channelling numerous transformations.
John has extensive knowledge and expertise in information systems. Earlier in his career he held key roles at well-known companies in the alcoholic drinkis industry such as Diage, Guinness and Guinness Malaysia Berhad.
Kyle Rowe
Managing Director, Boots Opticians
Kyle joined the Boots Opticians business in November 2023 as Managing Director. Kyle was most recently with ScS, the sofa, flooring and furniture company, as Chief Marketing and Digital Officer with responsibility for ecommerce, customer experience and IT.
Prior to this, Kyle has held board leadership roles in pharmaceutical distribution business, McKesson, and sports brand, Grenade, and has a wealth of retail experience both in the UK and internationally.
Camellia Spaczynska
Head of Retail Operations, Paul Smith
Camellia currently holds the position of Head of Retail Operations at Paul Smith bringing over 25 years of Retail experience and knowledge across Retail models in mono/ multi/ store and department. Camellia worked her way from the ground up, starting on the shop floor and this is where her focus and drive has remained to implement change.
During her career, Camellia has always believed in the significance of prioritising customers and employees and this is even more imperative in todays competing and ever-evolving Retail industry. Personalisation, omni-channel and seamless interactions are at the forefront of the experience for both.