Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Retail consultant Mary Portas will give a keynote speech at Spring Fair 2017 on the challenges facing independent retailers.
Mary will address issues such as changing consumer behaviours and the digital revolution and suggest how independent retailers can tackle them. Her presentation will be followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
She will talk on Monday February 6 at 1.45pm at the Fashion & Accessories Catwalk. Spring Fair takes place from February 5 to February 9 at the NEC in Birmingham.
The ‘Queen of Shops’ is a passionate advocate of British retail and has presented a host of retail and business-themed programmes on TV.
Her career started on the shop floor, rising through the ranks of John Lewis, Harrods and the Burton Group before being appointed creative director of Harvey Nichols.
She has since worked with some of the world’s premier retail and product brands including Westfield, Clark’s, Dunhill, Louis Vuitton, Oasis Stores, Mercedes-Benz and Boden.
On television, Mary has presented shows for BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. In ‘Secret Shopper’, she went undercover in some of the nation’s biggest retailers to expose the lack of customer service culture. In ‘Mary, Queen of Shops’ she helped turn around struggling small retail businesses.
She has also investigated retail and product trends in ‘What Britain Buys’ and fronted series on charity shops, fashion, manufacturing and her efforts to rejuvenate the high street.
Mary is the author of ‘How to Shop’ which instructs readers on how to shop more efficiently, and ‘Windows: The Art of Retail Display’. She has founded two retail consultancies working with both luxury and high street brands, and has launched her own fashion and footwear brands, and shop within House of Fraser. Mary also led an independent government review into the regeneration of the high street.
