RBS Retail & Wholesale Conference 2010

Peter has been a non-executive director of ASOS plc, the online fashion retailer, since 2006 during which time the turnover of the business has grown from £30m to £230m.

During the first half of 2009 he was the executive director at JJB Sports plc responsible for the turnaround strategy. During that period he redefined the retail proposition, renegotiated the banking facilities, closed 2 loss making subsidiaries, disposed of the leisure division, restructured the plc board and implemented a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) – a first for a UK listed company.

For 13 years up to 2004, Peter worked for Selfridges, initially as Chief Financial Officer and then as Chief Executive, during its radical transformation from “Grace Brothers” to one of the world’s leading department stores. Following Selfridges, he was the Chief Executive of Alpha Airports Group plc, an international company specialising in tax and duty free retailing and airline catering.

Peter is currently an executive director at the EMI group, where he is leading the financial restructuring of the business involving the equity owner, Terra Firma, and the debt provider, Citibank. He is also a non-executive director at Cineworld Group plc, one of the UK’s leading chains of cinemas; Silverstone Holdings, responsible for the operation and development of the racing circuit; and is a member of the Design Council.

Neil has worked at Verdict for ten years and is currently Consulting Director. In this role he is responsible for all aspects of the consulting division and heads up most client projects, working with retail and consumer related companies to help develop, evolve and implement business strategies.

Neil has also served as Corporate Development and Planning Director at Verdict. In this role he was responsible for medium and long term strategic planning, the development of all new products and services and the management of ventures with third parties. Prior to Verdict, Neil worked for the John Lewis Partnership where he was involved, among other things, in the planning and relocation of new stores, the development of the John Lewis website and the creation of technical and information systems.

Neil serves as a non-executive director of the train operating company First Great Western and is a Visiting Fellow at the School of Management, University of Surrey.

Ross joined the bank in autumn 1998 and has been working in research as UK Economist since autumn 2000. The UK economics team provide comprehensive analysis of all major UK data and economic developments, together with detailed forecasts for the economy. Ross is quoted regularly in the broadsheet press and appears on Reuters TV, BBC TV and ITN. Prior to working for The Royal Bank of Scotland Ross worked as a researcher for the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry.

Tim Danaher became editor of Retail Week, the leading news magazine for UK retailers, in January 2005. He has extensive business journalism experience, having written for commercial property magazine Property Week for six years prior to joining Retail Week.

He has also written widely for national papers on a freelance basis, including a weekly column on commercial property in the Evening Standard.

Tim Danaher is a regular commentator on retail matters for TV, radio and newspapers and has made appearances on Today, BBC Breakfast, BBC News, Weekend Business and Sky News among others. He is also a regular chair of retail events and conferences.

Mary is one of the UK's foremost authorities on retail and brand communication and is credited with turning around Harvey Nichols.

Mary travels around the world advising on retail strategy. Her first book, Windows - the Art of Retail Display, was published in five languages and quickly became the worldwide authority on the subject.

Her latest book, How to Shop with Mary Queen of Shops, is an insider's guide to how to be a better shopper. It goes behind the scenes to show you the tricks of the trade, how to shop more efficiently, when to hit the sales and where to shop according to your 'tribe'.

As well as starring in the BBC series, Mary is founder and creative director of one of London's leading creative communications agencies.

Don joined Farrow & Ball in January 2010, from Krispy Kreme (the renowned American doughnut brand) where he had been CEO for seven years.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, USA, he grew up in New Zealand where he studied at Auckland University and obtained a degree in marketing and accounting.

Don began his career at Procter and Gamble, where he worked for eight and a half years in Scandinavia and the UK. In 1994 Don moved to Diesel UK, opening their first store in Covent Garden. Following some great success in the UK, he was promoted to run Diesel USA which he did for three years before joining Krispy Kreme as President of International. In 2003 he became one of the founding franchisee holders when Krispy Kreme UK opened their first store, by the end of 2009 this had grown to 45 stores.

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