2026 Agenda - more to be announced
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Leaders’ panel: The future of hospitality innovation
With brand relevancy key to success in today’s fast-moving yet challenging consumer landscape, we ask how leaders are balancing commercial realities with bold innovation across food, tech and the customer experience. The panel will also explore growth strategies in a cost-constrained market and how to cut through the noise to identify true trends.
Panellists:- Tom James, MD, Bill’s
- Caroline Ottoy, managing director, WatchHouse
- Gemma Glasson, CEO, Wahaca
AI in Hospitality: From hype to operational impact
This session examines where AI is delivering real value today—and what’s coming next. Our panellists explore, citing real-world case studies, AI copilots for operations and head office, agentic AI & automation in restaurants, personalisation and customer data, labour optimisation and predictive forecasting and more.
Panellists:- Jim Hingston, digital and technology director, Azzurri Group
- Rob Trippett, IT director, Heartwood Group
- Kerry Gilbert, head of restaurant technology, Wagamama
Retail innovation: Threat and opportunity
Flora Zwolinski, insight lead & senior insight manager, Lumina Intelligence
Retail and FMCG remain powerful engines of innovation, with trends such as functional nutrition, snackification and globally inspired own-label ranges reshaping consumer expectations. In this quick session, Flora Zwolinski, insight lead and senior insight manager at Lumina Intelligence, will explore the innovations driving growth across retail categories and examine what foodservice operators can learn from them.
Shelf made – how hospitality brands win in retail
As more consumers look to recreate restaurant-quality experiences at home, specialist hospitality brands are finding new opportunities to grow beyond their four walls and into supermarket shelves. But how much does success in grocery demand an entirely different mindset? This panel will bring together operators who have crossed into the supermarket aisles to discuss what drives success and the commercial decisions behind translating a hospitality experience into a scalable retail proposition.
Panellists:- Gulrez Singh Arora, CEO and co-founder, Gymkhana Fine Foods
- Sara McKennedy, MD, Coco di Mama
- Lesley Mcilroy, sales and marketing director, Ole & Steen
From fried chicken to drinks destination: How KFC turned Kwench into a nationwide hit
Leo Sloley, strategy and innovation director, KFC UKI
KFC’s strategy & innovation director Leo Sloley reveals how customer insight, rapid testing and bold category expansion transformed Kwench from a Manchester pilot into one of the brand’s fastest-ever rollouts. Discover the innovation framework behind a drinks range that doubled sales in trial stores, opened new growth occasions and helped reposition KFC for the next generation of consumers.
The secret sauce behind menu makeovers
Our panel shares their process behind menu changes from insight, through to ideation and activation. Satiating customer demand for bold new dishes and flavours, and with margin in mind, they discuss lessons learned, key successes and the means to pain free execution.
Panellists:- Elia Elio, co-founder, Chopstix
- Louise MacLean, business development director, Signature Pubs Group
Delivery - the innovations fuelling growth
Foodservice delivery is now embedded into consumer habits, powered by younger convenience-led, tech-savvy users - but where does the next wave of growth come from? This session explores how operators are evolving delivery through smarter tech, seamless integration and better customer journeys - from WhatsApp ordering and AI orchestration to menu optimisation, sustainable packaging, and balancing aggregator scale with direct relationships.
Panellists:- Rebecca Carroll, marketing director Papa Johns UK
- Rory Scallan, commercial director, Five Guys Europe
- Joe Heather, VP UK&I, Deliverect
- Claire Barrett, senior manager global digital product, Subway
Reinventing the occasion: How bars are adapting to changing consumer behaviour
From low and no options to functional drinks, consumers are increasing looking for options outside the traditional alcoholic categories. In this panel we explore the trends and formats that are driving drinks sales, from experience-led venues to bottomless brunches, and ask how operators are adapting to the changing social behaviour of different generations.
Panellists:- Charlie Gilkes, co-founder and director, Inception Group
- Sarah Miller, chief operating officer, Nightcap
- Jamie Hazeel, joint MD and co-founder, Little Door & Co
Lifestyle, culture & community: The formula behind hospitality’s most influential brands
Stand-out hospitality operators need to offer more than just a place to eat or stay; the best are projecting an aspirational, distinctive lifestyle. From cultivating communities to staying creatively relevant as they scale, this session will unpack how brands maintain their edge, evolve with changing audiences, and create long-term engagement.
Panellists:- Georgina Hayward, director of brand marketing, Yard Sale Pizza
- Martina Luger, chief brand officer, Ennismore
Liquid assets: The evolution of beverage-led hospitality
Amid evergrowing demand for matcha and ube and the premiumisation of classics such as hot chocolate, beverage-led concepts are redefining the future of hospitality, driving new formats, experiences and revenue opportunities. Join industry leaders as they explore the trends, innovations and strategies shaping the next generation of drinks-focused venues in the UK hospitality sector.
Panellists:- William Gordon-Harris, CEO, Knoops
- Otto Boyer, co-founder & CEO, JENKI
2025 Agenda
Operators are time-poor and resource limited. Yet food trends never stand still, and the promise of tech solutions evolves exponentially. Our panel discusses how operators can organise themselves to stay relevant and alive to opportunity, across both tech and menu development.
First-party delivery isn’t about replacing marketplaces—it’s about building a smarter, complementary strategy that strengthens operations and protects margins. In this exclusive case study session, senior leaders from Papa Johns and Starbucks discuss how their integrated delivery workflows have reduced friction, cut costs, and simplified operations. The panel will offer candid insights into what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how first-party dispatch innovation can enhance performance across people, platforms, and profitability.
Our panel discusses AI as it evolves from feeding dashboards to real time decision making. It’s said to be like having a turbocharged analyst available 24/7. But what’s the panel’s verdict? Is Agentic AI another buzzword or the hottest investment prospect for operators?
Azzurri Group has a busy portfolio of brands - ASK Italian, Zizzi, Coco di Mama, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Boojum - across over 240 locations. Data fragmentation was causing chaos for teams. The decision to build an in-house platform, Openr, has had transformational benefits.The panel will share the journey and results, from better insight to immediacy in supporting menu building and price changes, from enhanced sales, to freeing up the team for innovation.
The panel will discuss the range of applications existing and coming on-stream from AI, as well as matters of governance. What are the risks to reputation, and what are the best means to mitigate these?
In this session, Tracy discusses how tech solutions can drive operational know-how for new partners and employees, whilst moving the dial on health and safety compliance. With learnings for other hospitality segments, Tracy will share the journey at Star Pubs and Bars, the operating arm of Heineken, as well as its impressive results around enablement, efficiencies and cost.
Kateline unlocks access to this elusive audience, sharing bite sized exclusive insights from Egg Soldiers’ Gen Z Food Trends Forecast. Incorporating cultural influences, influencer collaborations and digitally driven experiences, this session looks at how to meet the needs of the nation’s nonconformist culinary adventurers. From comfort food to spice, to Asian cuisine, fusion, and the regional American styles, Kateline will explore what is shaping trends and choices, drawing on insight from the UK’s leading concept and menu creation agency.
Unhealthy diets are blamed for being the primary cause of obesity and preventable diet-related disease. But amid competing ethical and commercial considerations, how can operators become part of the solution, rather than the problem? Our panel will discuss consumer trends around health vs indulgence, and consider which innovations are allowing them to grow profits while having a positive impact.
F&B innovation moves at a dizzying pace - it never stops. So, which to back, and which are hype? Lumina Intelligence is uniquely placed to know, as a leading specialist in consumer sentiment and menu trends. With evidence from the proprietary Menu Tracker tool and the Eating and Drinking Out Panel, Linda will identify trend-led menu items already breaking through and what’s next, whether inspired by the zeitgeist or savvy retail launches.
As weight loss drugs like Mounjaro become more prevalent, how could consumers’ supressed appetites impact their spending habits? As a renowned specialist in procurement strategy, David will address this, other potential shocks coming over the next three years, and how operators might best turn challenges into opportunities.
Labour is the biggest cost pressure facing the UK hospitality sector today, following increases to national insurance contributions and the National Living Wage. Given that, how can businesses use smart solutions to ensure their workforce is supported and deployed effectively and efficiently? The panel will discuss how tech and AI can help with targeted recruitment, improved retention and engagement, effective training as well as performance management.
Inspired by the recent launch of Pepsi Treats, dessert parlour Creams created bespoke, innovative drinks in partnership with the soft drinks brand. The launch was supported by an immersive Pepsi-themed store takeover that encouraged customers to interact not only with the drinks, but with the full Creams offer. In this session, Everett and Emma will discuss the unique partnership, the benefits it delivered, and why it was so much more than just a summer campaign.