Former BBC HR director Lucy Adams is the latest speaker to join the line-up for the HTA Garden Futures Conference in London later this month.
During one of the broadcaster’s most turbulent periods, she was responsible for all aspects of employee relations, reward, training and development. She faced a torrent of personal and professional criticism as the broadcaster dealt with a series of crises including executive pay-offs and the Savile scandal.
Lucy will share her story of how she kept the BBC workforce happy and ensured they had access to the training they needed to perform to the best of their ability. Delegates can expect tips on structure, reward and recognition.
Tim West, co-founder of London independent bookstore The Big Green Bookshop, will also speak at the conference. The business, founded by Tim and Simon Key, offers a thoughtful range of titles and knowledgable staff. With more than £100bn predicted to be spent online this year, retailers have been battling to survive an ever increasing online market. In his session, Tim West will give his perspective on surviving in an online world and how to attract customers using unique selling points to entice customers to spend in store instead of online.
Other speakers include customer service expert Andrew McMillan and Haskins group chief executive Julian Winfield.
Andrew McMillan, an advisor to private and public sectors, spent more than 20 years with the John Lewis Partnership, the last eight while responsible for customer service. In his keynote closing session titled ‘Bigger, Better, Stronger’ Andrew will share his experience of more difficult times and how he learned from and used this to drive the business forward. The resulted was enhanced sales, improved efficiencies and increased resilience to market conditions.
In his session titled ‘Maintaining your identity and a profitable product mix’, Julian Winfield will discuss the pros and cons of the modern garden centre and share his opinion on where things are going.
The HTA Garden Futures Dinner is on Tuesday 14 October, with the conference following on Wednesday 15 October at the Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA.
