Judges

	Karen Barter Founder, Women in Retail Karen is a proven leader of retail brand development and management throughout an established corporate career based in the UK. Brands include Pied a Terre, The Pier Retail Ltd, Waterford Wedgwood Group and Le Creuset. She has worked as a consultant in the Middle East advising on private retail portfolios and shopping malls. Karen has over 20 years senior leadership and direct management experience operating and communicating at board level. Karen joined Penna as an Executive Search Consultant in September last year where she specialises in Retail and FMCG recruitment. She is an accredited Bar-On EQi assessor working with and mentoring leading senior board members in industry. Karen is Chairman and co-founder of Women in Retail, a networking organisation for senior women within the industry.
	Sue Brownson OBE Group Managing Director, Blue Bell BMW Group Sue Brownson is Group Managing Director of Blue Bell BMW. Sue was President of the Retail Motor Industry and worked with their training company. She is currently on the Board of the Automotive Sector Skills Council, which has just merged with the Institute of the Motor Industry. Sue is also Vice Chairman of the Royal Automobile Club and chairs the Elections Committee and is a Board member of the Motor Sports Association.
	Jo Delbridge Director of Public Relations, Specsavers Optical Group A former journalist, Jo Delbridge has worked for Specsavers for 13 years, where she is director of Public Relations for Specsavers’ 750 optical stores and hearing centres in the UK and Republic of Ireland. She was recently voted one of the top three in-house PR professionals of the year by the Public Relations Consultants Association. Jo is married to PR managing director and musician Jim Delbridge and lives in Guernsey with her 14-year-old stepson Jake and a mad dog called Poppy.
	Rose Foster Managing Director, Hed Kandi Fashion Rose is a true retailer, having started her career as a Sales Assistant in 1977. She is currently launching an exciting new fashion retail start up for Ministry of Sound's Hed Kandi brand. Until February 2009 she was Chief Executive of La Senza, the UK's largest independent high street lingerie retailer with over 210 Stores in the UK, Eire and Europe. As well as overseeing new product launches and the expansion of the Store portfolio, Rose implemented a major re-branding and refit rollout whilst at La Senza. Prior to La Senza, Rose was Chief Executive of Monsoon Accessorize between 2001 and 2007, having moved there from New Look where she had been Retail Operations Director since 1999. Before New Look, Rose spent 22 years at Next (starting off at Kendals which became Next in 1982) in various Store, Field and HO roles before becoming Retail Sales Director in 1997.
	Gaynor Gillespie People & Corporate Development Director, Capital & Regional plc Gaynor joined Capital & Regional plc in 2002. She is People & Corporate Development Director, one of her main responsibilities is The Mall; the UK's leading community shopping centre brand. Home to around 1,500 retail units, covering over 7 million sq ft and attracting 4 million shoppers every week of the year, the business is well known for working hand in hand with it’s retailer partners. An Investor in People; 29th in the Financial Times Great Place to Work Survey 2006 and 59th in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work for in 2008 reflects the approach. Gaynor spent her early career in the hospitality sector with Malmaison and Macdonald Hotels, then private healthcare with Ashbourne plc before being attracted to Capital & Regional’s retail property business. She has a special interest in employee engagement; successfully developing and delivering the branded employment experience and culture in each of these businesses.
	Jane Guillaume Trustee, Retail Trust Jane has over 25 years of retail experience, her early years in Retail were spent at Bhs and Heal and Son. Jane joined Debenhams, part of The Burton Group, in 1989 and in 1993 was appointed Personnel Director. In 1998 Jane was appointed to the Plc Board.In 2004 after a successful transition back to a private Company Jane left and set up a plural portfolio. Jane is a Director of a Property Company, Chair of Circle Anglia Commercial Services - a Housing Association and Trustee Director for Norfolk and Norwich Heritage Trust. Jane joined the Board of Retail Trust in 2006.
	Karen Hubbard Ops Director Supermarkets, Asda Stores Ltd Karen Hubbard joined Asda Stores Ltd in 2009 as Operations Director for Supermarkets, responsible for the development and operation of a format for small supermarkets. Her focus is on the development of a compelling Customer Offer and Operating Model fit for the successful and profitable operation of smaller stores. Prior to this Karen was at BP Oil for 18 years, based in a number of different countries and working through a wide variety of retail roles including Operations Director and other Strategic roles. Her last role at BP before joining Asda was Convenience Retail Director UK, responsible for its very successful retailing formats including Connect Convenience Stores and the BP/M&S partnership stores. Karen has an MBA, gained at the Australian Graduate School of Management. Karen enjoys family activities, running and outdoor pursuits including boating, walking and skiing. She is married with 2 daughters.
	Michelle Irving Head of Employment Policy, British Retail Consortium Michelle Irving is Head of Employment Policy at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the lead trade association for the UK retail industry. Michelle is responsible for policy development and strategic engagement with Government and stakeholders on all employment issues that have implications for the retail sector. Prior to this appointment, Michelle was Public Affairs Adviser for the BRC’s Business Environment Department. Before joining the BRC, Michelle worked in various roles in the political communications field.
	Kim Morton Chairman of the Fashion Retail Academy Kim Morton is the Chairman of the Fashion Retail Academy, the first of the National Skills Academies. She was responsible for the development of the Academy from the beginning, leading the team who delivered the successful project, and building the Academy to the strong position that it has today. She also runs a successful Consultancy, specialising in HR consulting, Executive coaching and Management Development. Kim’s previous experience includes 17 years at the Arcadia Group where she held a number of HR Director positions both in the Brands and in the specialist HR areas before her appointment as Group HR Director in 1998.
	Sharon O'Connor Aurora Fashions Sharon O’Connor is a leading figure in British High Street Retail with a reputation spanning over 20 years successfully driving retail strategy for Miss Selfridge, Debenhams, Sock Shop, and more recently Oasis. Joining Oasis in 2000 Sharon worked her way up the career ladder and successfully secured her role as MD in 2006. Since taking on the role of MD her focus has been on driving a shift in brand perception to reposition Oasis through the creation of a new store concept seen at Westfield and a new more luxurious global brand image. Sharon is currently taking a well earned break from retail and is enjoying a 6 month sabbatical.
	Julia Reynolds Chief Executive, figleaves.com Julia joined Figleaves.com in January 2008 as CEO, prior to that she had worked as a Buying and Merchandising Director for Tesco in clothing. Her former career years were spent in the Arcadia Group and Mackay’s stores. In total she has spent 26 years in the clothing industry launching Brands from concept through to delivery, developing ethical trading policies, marketing and developing successful operating models for retail.
	Carrie Rubin Director of Pentland Group Carrie Rubin is a Director of Pentland Group plc and is the third generation involved in the family business. She has a special interest in fashion footwear and textile design and is a keen supporter of Graduate Fashion Week. In addition she contributes to the introduction of talent into the Pentland Group. Carrie is a Trustee of the Rubin Foundation Charitable Trust, supporting a variety of causes in the UK and overseas and is also involved with several organisations including; Chair of the recently formed IFB Women’s Forum and a Board member of the WEC (Women’s Executive Circle) of New York.
	Anne Seaman CEO, Skillsmart Retail Ltd Anne Seaman is CEO of Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Council which aims to increase skill levels in retail and promote it as a career of choice. She was formally Director of Enterprise and Innovation at Anglia Polytechnic University. She previously managed a sizeable department running major contracts with companies including Ford and Anglia Water and has run a three store retail business with her partner.
	Sue Shipley Partner & Head of Retail Practice, Odgers Berndtson Sue Shipley is the London based partner who heads up the Ray & Berndtson Global Retail practice. She focuses on senior level and main board appointments in the retail sector and specialises functionally in General Management, Buying, Marketing and Operations appointments. Her client base includes both UK and multi-national retail businesses including quoted companies and private equity backed businesses. She was appointed Partner in November 2002. She began her career in export sales before switching to the retail sector where she worked in a variety of management roles with Asda, Boots, Kingfisher, Dixons and Storehouse. A former management consultant with Gemini Consulting, Sue has also worked with e-commerce start-up businesses, both as a Director and Consultant.