CEO Exchange Forum: Future Fit, Leading through Disruption

Helen leads the team and sets the strategic direction of the BRC. She joined in January 2013 and has been working with retailers for over 25 years. In 2016 she was awarded an OBE for Services to Retail.

Helen is passionate about diversity and inclusion in retail, she acts as the BRC’s Social Mobility Commission ambassador and was previously the Chair of Working Chance, a charity helping women offenders find employment.She is on the advisory board for Pennies, a charity which offers digital charity boxes to businesses, and was previously UK Head of Retail at KPMG.

Judith McKenna is a global business leader who currently serves on the boards of Unilever and Delta Air Lines. Previously, she was the CEO of Walmart International, a $120bn+ business operating in 23 countries where she spearheaded a major strategic restructure of the portfolio. Throughout her 30-year career Judith has led multiple large-scale transformations, both physical and digital, including in Walmart US where she served as COO overseeing 4,500 stores. Among her achievements was launching online grocery shopping, setting up training academies and increasing wages for over 1 million associates. 

Recognized by Fortune as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business for more than a decade, Judith is a sought-after speaker on leadership, global business and corporate culture. Judith's leadership philosophy is built on IQ, EQ, RQ—and the often-overlooked Hope Quotient. She believes that small, meaningful actions - Tiny Noticeable Things - drive big transformations and employee engagement particularly in times of change. 

Judith is a qualified Chartered Accountant with deep experience in the UK, US and global retail sectors, having held leadership roles at Asda, Walmart U.S. and Walmart International.

Matt is a senior business transformation professional with more than 25 years of experience in the retail and consumer-facing industries. He is highly motivated and entrepreneurial with the ability to engage and inspire teams and clients alike, possessing a powerful mix of energy, insight and experience. He has assisted a wide range of clients to accelerate their performance through new value proposition design, effective omni-channel strategy, international expansion, optimizing operating models, and driving productivity.

Matt has an MBA from Durham University and a BSc from Bath University. He is also a Chartered Engineer. Prior to joining AlixPartners, Matt was a Managing Director at KPMG Boxwood, where he led the retail and consumer sector consulting practice. He was owner and board director at Boxwood before it was acquired by KPMG.

Catherine helps retailers and other consumer businesses transform performance using data and technology. She is an expert in deploying data, AI, and research to drive sales and profit via customer lifetime value, proposition design, pricing & promotions, supply chain & logistics, and retail media.  
 
Catherine is passionate about data ethics and has a strong track record of creating and monetizing valuable data assets. Prior to her role at AlixPartners, she held the positions of Chief Data Officer for Guardian Media Group and Data Science Director for the Coop Group. She also has over 15 years of experience in international consulting across retail, travel & leisure, airlines, and consumer finance.
 
Currently a Trustee of Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, Catherine is dedicated to social impact both inside and outside of the workplace.

Mark has 25 years experience in the Media, Entertainment and Technology sectors as a management consultant, advisor and operator. Former CFO Walt Disney Company EMEA and General Manager Media Distribution Walt Disney International. Most recently Mark was CEO of a Tech company delivering motion capture and augmented reality software to digital content creators and developing animation infrastructure for the Metaverse.

Mark has a broad range of experience across digital business transformation, digital rights management, finance transformation, value delivery, data analytics and new business model creation and post-merger integration/synergy