If anyone knows about retail trends and giving the customer what they want, it’s Mary Portas OBE - the iconic broadcaster, businesswoman, author and activist affectionately known as the Queen of Shops. Presenting an incredible opportunity for retailers and exhibitors to learn from Mary’s wealth of experience, we invite you to register for Showcase now to attend this free event which takes place on our Inspiration Stage.
MARY PORTAS
Monday 20th January 2025
12.30pm
The Inspiration Stage
Renowned for making change happen, aged 30, retail expert Mary Portas became a board member at Harvey Nichols before founding her own retail consultancy. She has since worked with some of the biggest names in global retail.
Mary’s BBC series Mary Queen of Shops premiered in 2007 and she has presented on television and radio for the BBC and Channel 4 ever since. In 2009, she partnered with Save The Children to reinvent charity shops. To date, the 26 Mary’s Living & Giving shops nationwide have raised more than £30 million for charity. She also conducted a review of the future for high streets for the British government in 2011.
Mary is the author of three books: an autobiography Shop Girl (2015) and two non-fiction books: Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto (2018) which looks at the restructuring how we work for the future; and Rebuild: how to thrive in the new Kindness Economy (2021). The Kindness Economy podcast was #1 on the business chart.
As co-chair of the UK’s Better Business Act, Mary heads a coalition of businesses calling for a change in the law to ensure UK companies align their interests with those of wider society and the environment.
In addition to presenting two series of Mary Portas: On Style for BBC Radio 4, Mary is also a podcaster – in her latest series Beautiful Misfits she interviews fellow changemakers taking the imaginative leap to create a better world.
Most recently, Mary took on the government with Kevin McCloud & Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in The Great Climate Fight on CH4.
In 2024, Mary made the King’s New Year Honours list, being awarded an OBE for her services to business, broadcasting and charity.
REGISTER NOW TO ATTEND THIS FREE EVENT
