It’s the last chance to book your place at our biggest event of the year, Conference25! Taking place next week on the 8th April at the Vox, Birmingham, we will be together over 500 retailers, suppliers and industry experts to shape the future of the sector. Come along to hear the best from our leading speakers, expert panels, innovative retailers, and get involved with the surprises we have planned!
Kicking off at 9:30am with a presentation from ACS chief executive James Lowman, the first session, ‘Listen’, explores ways that leading retailers listen to what their existing and potential customers want and need. We will be hearing from keynote speaker Greg Williams (WIRED) as well as learning from a series of short films featuring Chris Gheysens (WaWa), Tim Josephs (One Stop), and Katie Secretan (Co-op Wholesale).
Brunch will begin at 10:55am, where you will get the chance to refresh with teas, coffees, and networking. We will then begin the second session, ‘Act’, which will start at 11:40am. This explores how retailers can respond to forces that are impacting the convenience sector, featuring our first ever Ideas Battle! Choose your winners from two teams of award-winning independent retailers who have scoured the country and will be bringing some of the best ideas that can transform stores in the future. Team 1 will star Rav Garcha, Atul Sodha, Sophie Williams, Amrit Singh, and Team 2 will star Fiona Malone, Natalie Lightfoot, Bobby Singh, Joshua James!
We will end session 2 with some more short films featuring:
- Julian Smith, Unitas
- Simon Eastwood, Southern Co-op
- Simply Fresh at Gridserve
- Dan Quest, BonVeno
Conference25 will end with an exciting panel featuring leading retailers Debbie Robinson (Central Co-op), Nathalie Fullerthon (One Stop), and James Badger (Morrisons), before wrapping up for lunch at 1:10pm. Just before this, we will be getting a sneak peak of our 30th anniversary celebration from ACS Chair Ramesh Shingadia, Debbie Robinson, and Jonathan James.
Following the conference is our exclusive 30th anniversary dinner where we'll celebrate some of the people that have made an enormous contribution to both ACS and the wider convenience sector since ACS' inception in 1995. You can register your interest for the dinner here.
A special thank you to our headline sponsor Takis, our partner sponsors Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and One Stop, and our activation sponsors Mondelez | Snack Display, Cook, Green Fun Alliance (Elfbar) and Worldpay. There will be plenty of opportunities to engage with them throughout the day, so make sure to stop by and try their new products!
There’s only one week left to secure your place! Book your place for Conference25 here.
ACS Conference25 is co-located with the National Convenience Show which runs from the 7-9th April, and is a short walk across from the Vox, at the NEC. Retailers can book their free place to the National Convenience Show here.
More on the Conference25 agenda can be found here.
