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What's In-Store: Manchester

📅 Thursday, 23rd April, 2026
⏱️ 9.30- 12:30
📍 People's History Museum, Manchester

A morning exploring how better shopper insight, category thinking and shelf data can help retailers and suppliers unlock category growth.

9:30 - 9:55am: Arrival Breakfast & Networking

9:55 - 10:10am: Opening Keynote
Nick Theodore, CEO & Founder, VST

A grounded view of what’s changing in retail right now and how this is reshaping how category decisions are made.

10:10 - 10:25am: What Happens When You Can Ask the Shelf Anything?
Joshua Evans, CTO & Founder, VST

This session explores what changes when category teams can interrogate shelf data instantly and get answers in seconds, not days.

10:25-10:50am: Identifying Uncaptured Demand: Building a Category Strategy Retailers Say Yes To
Mahrie Mclean, Director, Momentum Insights (Ex Category Director, Reckitt)

How to build category growth strategies rooted in real shopper behaviour and credible incrementality.

10:50-11:20am: Inside the Co-op Buying Room: How to Deliver Value for Co-op Members and Shoppers

Leanne Ainger, Category Manager, Müller
Charlotte Waring, Senior Category Manager – Dairy & Protein, Co-op
Christian Martin, Retail Tech Director, VST

A practical look at how category decisions are actually made - using the dairy category as a live example. From initial supplier approach through to range review and planogram sign-off, this session brings together both sides of the table to unpack what really drives decisions inside Co-op.

11:20-11:45am: Coffee Break & Networking

11:45am-12:05pm: Re-Engineering the Breakfast Aisle
Lisa Manning, Customer Category Development Manager, Weetabix
Yasmine Ayoub Sanusi, Client Services Associate, VST

A case study on how fixture design helped create space for the growing protein trend in breakfast.

12:05-12:20pm: Building a Retail-Ready Category Case


Jack Edwards, Business Development Director, VST
Niamh Quinn, Customer Success Manager, VST

Light breakfast provided.

Register to attend
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Why attend?

To step out of the day-to-day and get clearer on how in-store decisions are shaping up.

A room of people working on the same problems

The event brings together category, shopper, insight and retail leaders to share how shelf decisions are being made today - across brands and retailers - and where alignment (or friction) tends to appear.

Direct perspectives from retail partners

Retail partners will share their current priorities, how they’re thinking about shelf decisions, and what they need from suppliers to move faster and with more confidence.

 

 

What’s changing in shopper behaviour at the shelf

You’ll hear the latest thinking on how shoppers are behaving in-store - from GLP-1s, functional categories and low/no alcohol - and what this means for range, layout and execution decisions.