2026 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS JUDGING PANEL
The eighth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries.
The awards celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world. Our latest winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Key dates for 2026
Friday, 20th February: Awards open for entries
Friday, 2nd October: Awards entry deadline
Tuesday, 6th October: 2026 finalists revealed
Wednesday, 7th October - 20th October: Judging days
Wednesday, 4th November: Winners announced at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London
Please email our awards team if you have any questions or need further information: awards@retailtechinnovationhub.com
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel
We’re pleased to announce the judging panel for the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards, including representatives from the likes of Holland & Barrett, JD Sports, PoundFun, Austen & Blake, C&C Group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, East of England Co-op, and IGD.
We have brought together a broad spectrum of independent experts, who have experience and insight into different aspects of the retail technology industry.
Carole Kingsbury, Chief Technology Officer, C&C Group
Bio: From publishing to fashion retail, Carole has successfully delivered technology solutions and services for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Whether working as a Technology Consultant, Business Analyst, Programme Manager, or IT Director, her approach has consistently focussed on people, process, data, and technology (in that order).
For the past 16 years of her career, Carole has been privileged to have led teams of various shapes and sizes to achieve delivery of complex business and technology change in the retail sector and has always advocated for cross-functional ways of working and thinking to encourage active collaboration and create a culture of continuous improvement, development, and innovation.
Rob Smith, Technology Officer, East of England Co-op
Bio: Rob is a strategic and accomplished technology and people leader with over 20 years’ experience across the retail, finance, and IT sectors.
Renowned for building and inspiring high performing teams, he consistently delivers exceptional results while driving quality and innovation. Passionate about IT, data, service delivery, and business transformation, Rob excels at modernising practices and enabling continuous improvement. As Technology Officer at East of England Co-op, he leads the organisation’s technology strategy and drives forward its digital and operational evolution.
Scott Thompson, Editor and Founder, Retail Technology Innovation Hub
Bio: Over the past 25 years, Scott has held senior editorial positions at and contributed to a number of business and technology related publications.
Prior to launching Retail Technology Innovation Hub, he was Editor at crypto publication Coin Rivet and Senior Editor at IBS Intelligence, heading up their monthly banking technology title, IBS Journal and daily online news service.
Scott also spent ten years at retail tech title, Retail Systems.
He launched RTIH as he believed there was a gap in the market for a source of independent retail technology news, analysis and research, written by people with a genuine passion for this fast moving sector.
Toby Pickard, Retail Futures Senior Partner, IGD
Bio: Toby has almost 20 years’ experience working in the food and consumer goods industry.
He researches, analyses and presents insights on innovations, technology, retail futures, sustainability and macro trends in the FMCG sector.
Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots
Bio: With over a decade of experience, Paula is currently serving as Chief Data and Digital Officer at Boots UK, and contributing to digital transformation efforts through analytics and customer insight expertise.
She is also chairing the Boots Benevolent Fund and serving as a Non-Executive Director at Spire Healthcare Group, bringing diverse perspectives to leadership. Paula is skilled in leveraging data to drive actionable insights, aligning organisational goals with innovative digital strategies.
Jack Dowling, Transformation Director (Strategy, Product, Operations & AI)
Bio: Jack is a transformation leader who turns complex challenges into growth.
Having delivered meaningful innovation at Asos and Frasers Group (as well as several other cross industry clients), he recently led the Post Office through a multi-carrier, multi-channel overhaul that launched 14 new customer propositions services, added 60 million annual customer transactions, and halted a years long revenue slide. In the past four years, he has directly generated £120 million in new revenue and £20 million in yearly efficiency gains by fusing strategy, digital innovation, data analysis and hands-on operations.
Graham Broomfield, Managing Director, Austen & Blake
Bio: Graham is a retail and digital leader with 25 years’ experience scaling global consumer brands.
His work focuses on building customer centred cultures, modern retail systems, and commercially resilient growth models. Graham also advises retail and technology businesses on strategy and leadership. He is passionate about elevating customer experience, developing people, and creating meaningful, long-term value.
Becky Lombardo, Founder, Londra Consulting
Bio: Becky is an international retail logistics expert with over 20 years of experience working with some of the world’s most recognisable retail brands across luxury, fashion, beauty, homewear, wellness and food including Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason, Asos, Dunelm, and Matchesfashion.
As the founder of Londra Consulting, Becky specialises in helping businesses navigate the complex, fast evolving landscape of global e-commerce and omnichannel logistics. She has worked across every major fulfilment model, from direct-to-consumer and drop ship to concessions and rental, giving her a uniquely broad perspective.
Becky’s career spans key global markets including the UK, US, EU, Far East, and the Middle East. She has led the development and implementation of transformative logistics strategies tailored to the needs of each region, helping brands scale profitably, adapt, and stay competitive in times of rapid change.
Matt Taylor, CTO of Global Managed Services and VP of SecDevOps, NCC Group
Bio: Prior to NCC Group, Matt was a partner and the technology strategy and transformation leader at one of the Big Four. He has also been a CIO and previously led large scale complex global IT transformation, delivery and recoveries for over 20 years at Accenture.
Privileged to have led international teams and worked in Europe, US and India, Matt has experienced an incredibly valuable range of cultures and environments with some of the world's most innovative brands.
He is a fellow of the BCS (Chartered Institute for IT), elected committee member of the IT Leaders Forum, volunteer mentor, early careers advocate and proudly included in the RTIH top 100 retail technology influencers list.
Glen Richardson, Non-Executive Director, PoundFun, former COO at The Range and CMO at Fruugo
Bio: Whether through AI driven marketing, e-commerce strategy, or investment connections, Glen helps brands scale fast and smart.
He is currently Non-Executive Director at PoundFun, and has also served as COO at The Range and CMO at Fruugo.
Christine Russo, Industry Analyst and Retail Influencer
Bio: Christine is an industry thought leader, Retail Technology Innovation Hub Top 100 Influencer, and the RTIH US correspondent.
She hosts the industry recognised leading podcast What Just Happened, where tech solution CEOs, leaders in retail and brands speak candidly about industry shaping issues and challenges.
With a career spanning roles in management consulting at Deloitte and executive roles in global store development, Christine’s experience includes top down analysis as well as serving time in the retail trenches. Based in New York City, she is the mom of three grown daughters and two naughty puppies.
Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett
Bio: Vineta is an industry expert in the e-commerce and grocery industry, bringing several years experience in this space.
She spent ten years at Ocado Group, the FTSE 50 online grocer and technology provider supporting its growth and strategic M&A, strategic divestments and fundraising over £1.5 billion. She then took on the Group CFO role at Rohlik Group, a Pan European online grocer spanning five countries that has unicorn status.
Vineta recently joined Holland & Barrett as Group CFO. Her experience spans the US, UK, Europe and Asia. She is a finance, tax and business expert. She acts as an angel investor and advisor to a number of pre-series to Series A startups across a variety of industries and gives her time to supporting small businesses.
Nina Mimica, Board Advisor and Former Studenac Executive
Bio: Nina serves on various advisory boards, including the Global Council for Business Resilience (GCBR), and recently departed Studenac where she served as Chief Innovation and Digitisation Officer.
At the Croatian retailer, she was responsible for the strategy and implementation of innovative technological solutions based on the use of advanced analytics and new products development; with the aim of improving customer satisfaction, optimising internal processes, increasing efficiency and ensuring new company growth and value.
Nadine Neatrour, Chief Marketing Officer, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants
Bio: Nadine is a board level omnichannel professional with full end to end e-commerce, marketing and retail experience from platform development to trading optimisation to community building to loyalty.
She is passionate about customers, experienced in cross channel retail and inspired by brands. Nadine is a thought leader in the retail space, and helps brands realise their customer opportunities through e-commerce, CRM, customer service, clienteling and digital in store experiences to grow sales, build loyalty and maximise profit. She passionately believes in uniting channels to create a truly universal customer experience that drives customer loyalty and surpasses global boundaries.
Mike Cadden, Chief Technology Officer, Marie Curie
Bio: Mike is an experienced transformational technology executive with an exceptional track record in strategic and technical management in retail and FMCG with a passion for using data to deliver powerful customer experience that drives increased revenues.
He has extensive experience in business and technology turnarounds and digital transformations which have delivered both multi-million year-on-year revenue improvements as well as significant six figure savings to PE, PLC and privately owned businesses.
If you would like to be considered for inclusion on our 2026 judging panel, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.