Daniel Louden departs Marks and Spencer for KFC UK & Ireland and Director of Digital Products role

Daniel Louden has joined KFC UK & Ireland as Director of Digital Products.

He was previously at M&S, where he spent six years, most recently serving as Strategic Technology Business Partner - M&S International.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: "One month in to KFC and I do love being back in hospitality tech. Everyone has a smile on their face, everyone has welcomed me with open arms (sometimes literally!) and everyone is happy when they’re buying chicken and chips!"

He added: "My onboarding has been excellent, high energy and full on, filled with RGM Fest, store training, many store visits, Live Well days, countless meet and greets, speaking to guests and restaurant colleagues, sampling lots of the product and of course treating my family to KFC - my boys and their mates have benefited a lot. Special thank you to my brilliant team. Hopefully things start to settle down now and I can get on with some work?! Sadly I still don’t suit hats and I’m not too great at making burgers… yet!"

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Hospitality technology will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.