Retail Recovery - Thriving in the New Normal

Please join us for this exciting talk by Mark Pilkington about the future of retail. He provides fascinating insight into how retailers can recover and thrive in retailing's "new normal."

Mark is a global expert on the retail industry. He was one of the first thinkers to predict the global retail crisis in his book ‘Retail Therapy. Why the retail industry is broken – and what can be done to fix it’. Mark provides an insightful review of the collapse of the traditional retail sector in the West, and a roadmap for its potential recovery in a talk here.

Mark began his career in the 1990s, as Marketing Director of Wonderbra – a relatively unknown underwear brand - which he subsequently made famous all round the world.

Then, in 2000, he founded Splendour.com – world’s first vertically-integrated online brand - with the financial backing of Marks & Spencer Ventures. He successfully scaled Splendour, and it was acquired in 2006 by a public company.

From 2008 to 2017, he was Chief Executive of Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group, a leading Dubai-based retailer, with market-leading brands like The Body Shop, Early Learning Centre, Nayomi and Mikyajy, which he successfully expanded from 450 to 850 stores.

He then became Consulting Director of Bolt Partners, a leading London online marketing agency, where he helped brands develop successful digital strategies.

He is currently Director of MarkPilkington.net, a consultancy which helps brands, retailers and mall owners develop winning strategies for the future.