The Event

Richmond Retail & eCommerce Directors' Forum 2026 Warwickshire · Apr 14 2026

Billed as the UK's most senior retail ecommerce gathering, Richmond's forum brought 150 director-level leaders together with 50 solution providers at The Belfry, in a hosted-buyer format built for one-to-one meetings rather than an open show floor. Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh and Matalan COO Phil Hackney headlined a program that stayed firmly focused on UK retail leadership priorities.

Confirmed 2026 attendees and speakers also included leaders from Pets at Home, Screwfix, Primark, New Look and Unilever, with the agenda built around eight fixed annual topics: economic uncertainty and leadership clarity, AI in retail, cybersecurity and risk, agile retail transformation, funnel optimization and marketing attribution, ESG as a performance driver, unified commerce, and resilient supply chains.

View event site → What this means for EU expansion

The Room

Who was in the room at Richmond's Forum

This is invite-only and director-level throughout: 150 senior UK retail and ecommerce directors matched with 50 vetted solution providers through structured one-to-one meetings. There's no open show floor, which keeps the conversation focused and genuinely senior.

Confirmed 2026 attendee and speaker brands beyond the headline Morrisons and Matalan names included Pets at Home, Screwfix, Primark, New Look and Unilever, an unusually high-quality, high-seniority room for a UK-focused expansion conversation, particularly given the agenda's explicit resilient supply chains and unified commerce topics.

Retail & ecommerce directors C-suite retail leaders Solution providers

For a growing brand seeking the next step up, was Richmond Retail & eCommerce Directors' Forum 2026 a good fit?

Strong fit for 3PL/logistics and tax/compliance topics given the agenda's supply chain focus, though as an invite-only, hosted-buyer format it's a harder event to access directly without an existing relationship or sponsor connection.

UK Retail & Ecommerce Directors

The UK's most senior retail decision-makers, gathered for hosted 1:1 meetings.

Solution Providers

A curated group of 50 vendors matched directly with buyer priorities.

Programme

What Richmond's Forum told us

Three signals stood out from a program headlined by major UK retail leadership.

Major UK retailer CEOs are speaking candidly on strategy

Having Morrisons' CEO and Matalan's COO headline reflects how seriously UK retail leadership takes this closed-door format for sharing genuine strategic thinking.

The hosted-buyer format continues to attract top UK talent

150 director-level attendees confirm strong ongoing demand among senior UK retail leaders for structured, efficient vendor meetings over open networking.

UK retail leadership priorities set the tone for vendor conversations

With the agenda built around UK director priorities, including resilient supply chains and unified commerce, the solution providers present were those most aligned with UK-specific retail challenges, a useful signal of what's top of mind domestically.

Live Intelligence

What's being said about Richmond's Forum 2026

Coverage of the forum centered on senior UK retail leaders speaking candidly in a closed, hosted-buyer setting.

UK retail's biggest names are choosing closed-door formats for strategy talk

RICHMOND RETAIL FORUM PROGRAM · APR 2026

Morrisons and Matalan's senior leadership headlining a hosted-buyer, invite-only event over a public conference stage reflects a preference for candid discussion among peers. For a brand entering the UK, that's a signal that UK retail relationships often build through trusted, curated circles rather than open marketing alone.

A relationship-building event, not a high-volume audience

EVENTS INTELLIGENCE · JUL 2026

This forum is an unusually high-quality but narrow-reach audience. Better suited to relationship-building with established UK retailers than to reaching brands newly expanding cross-border, given the invite-only access model.

Expandly perspective

What Richmond's Forum 2026 means for your expansion

Richmond's Forum is a reminder that UK retail leadership operates through trusted, curated relationships, not just open marketplaces. For a US brand entering the UK, the operational foundation, VAT registration, compliance, and reliable local fulfillment, is what earns a place in those trusted circles in the first place.

UK retail buyers and directors expect a proven operational track record before considering a new brand relationship.
Post-Brexit, UK VAT (value-added tax) and compliance are separate from the EU, requiring their own registration and setup.
Local UK fulfillment supports the delivery speed and reliability that builds trust with senior retail buyers over time.
A clean UK operational foundation makes it easier to extend into EU markets afterward, since the compliance discipline transfers even if the registrations don't.
Treat this event as a longer-term relationship and referral channel rather than a fast route to broad market reach; its invite-only structure works against quick wins.

Earning trust with UK retail leadership starts with getting the basics right: VAT, compliance and delivery that actually performs. Expandly builds that foundation so a US brand shows up UK-ready from day one.

UK compliance is separate from the EU post-Brexit

The UK operates its own VAT, customs and compliance regime distinct from the EU, so a UK launch and an EU launch each need their own registration and setup.

Separate regimes UK and EU VAT and compliance since Brexit

Senior UK retail leadership favors trusted, closed circles

Major retailer CEOs headlining an invite-only, hosted-buyer format over public stages reflects how UK retail relationships often build through curated trust rather than broad marketing.

150 senior directors attended this year's invite-only forum

One partner, not a stack of vendors

Brands juggling a UK VAT agent, a compliance advisor and a fulfillment provider separately lose time to coordination. GEP™ runs it as one sequenced operation instead.

GEP™ one method, compliance to fulfillment

Good to Know

Questions about Richmond's Forum 2026

What did Richmond's Retail & eCommerce Directors' Forum 2026 actually cover?

The 2026 forum gathered 150 senior UK retail and ecommerce directors with 50 solution providers at The Belfry, in a hosted-buyer format headlined by Morrisons CEO Rami Baitiéh and Matalan COO Phil Hackney, with a fixed agenda of eight topics including AI in retail, resilient supply chains and unified commerce.

Is Richmond's Forum worth attending for a US brand entering the UK?

It's invite-only and difficult to access without a direct connection, but it signals how UK retail leadership builds relationships, through curated, trusted circles, which is useful context for planning a serious UK market entry.

Who attends Richmond's Retail & eCommerce Directors' Forum?

The forum draws 150 of the UK's most senior retail and ecommerce directors, matched with 50 vetted solution providers through a hosted, one-to-one meeting format rather than an open trade show, with 2026 attendees including leaders from Pets at Home, Screwfix, Primark, New Look and Unilever alongside Morrisons and Matalan.

Does selling in the UK cover me for the EU too?

No. The UK left the EU's single market, so UK and EU compliance, VAT (value-added tax) and customs rules are handled separately. A UK presence doesn't automatically extend to EU markets, and each requires its own registration and fulfillment plan.

How does VAT work for a US brand selling in Europe?

You register for VAT (value-added tax) in each country where you hold stock, and charge VAT on sales to consumers there. Schemes like the Import One-Stop Shop simplify some cross-border sales, but holding stock in a country creates a registration obligation regardless. Rates and thresholds vary by market, so confirm each before launch.

Make Your Move

Building trust with UK retail?

If Richmond's Forum confirmed UK retail leadership runs on trusted relationships, the operational basics still need to be right before that trust converts into a stocking or listing decision.

Expandly handles the parts that hold US brands back in the UK: VAT (value-added tax) registration, compliance, marketplace listings, and fulfillment from our Netherlands warehouse for onward EU reach. It's one sequenced operation, built on the Global Expansion Pathway (GEP™), rather than five vendors to manage yourself. Want to talk through what a UK launch would look like for your brand?