Retail Speaker
Dr Alison Edgar MBE is a keynote speaker for retail, booked by WHSmith, Currys and Nespresso. Her sessions get colleagues at every level, store floor to head office, thinking and acting like owners of the shop.
What WHSmith said
“After the session, everyone in the group started to become more confident in their plans, or started to see what they had to work on to get what they want. Thank you Alison for opening my teams’ eyes to an ‘intrapreneurial’ way of thinking.”
Why do retailers book Alison?
Retail is a behaviour business: what a colleague does in the moment, at the shelf or the till or the service desk, is the brand. Alison has lived that since she was sixteen, starting in frontline hospitality and building a sales career serving customers face to face, so a room of store managers takes her seriously from the first minute.
Retailers keep booking her because the message lands at both ends of the business. WHSmith’s organiser thanked her for “opening my teams’ eyes to an ‘intrapreneurial’ way of thinking”. Currys’ team connected the content to real work and home situations. Nespresso called her session a fantastic addition to their annual B2B kick-off, and Avon’s delegates rated her the favourite session of the day.
The engine is The Intrapreneur Mindset: three questions, ending on “what would I do if it were my business?”, that turns colleagues from following the playbook to owning the shop. In a sector fighting for every conversion, that shift shows up on the shop floor the next morning.
Why retailers book Alison Edgar
The measure of a retail speaker is what your colleagues do differently on the next shift. Here is what you get with Alison.
She speaks shop floor and head office
Alison started at sixteen in a family-run hotel and spent decades in frontline sales. Store managers and buying teams alike recognise her as someone who has actually served customers.
Named retail results
WHSmith’s teams left with an “intrapreneurial” way of thinking, in their organiser’s words. Currys connected the content to real work and home situations. Nespresso rated her a fantastic addition to their B2B kick-off.
It outlasts the conference
Alison works on behaviour, so the shift survives contact with a Saturday shift. After one keynote, Haydock Finance converted £54 million more from the same pipeline.
What can Alison speak about?
Every session is tailored to your audience and what you want from the day. Tell us what you are after and we will recommend the right one.
The Intrapreneur Mindset
Getting every colleague, from store floor to head office, to treat the shop like their own.
Customer experience is behaviour
Reading how customers and colleagues are wired, and adapting in the moment.
Energy through peaks and change
Keeping teams motivated through seasonal peaks, restructures and the shift to omnichannel.
What retail clients say
Alison was amazing from start to finish. During meetings prior to the event Alison took time to understand our objectives and worked with us to ensure the content hit the mark on the day. During the event Alison's energy and passion was there for all to see. The content really resonated with the team and they were able to connect it to real life work and home situations. Alison has some great stories and her engaging and funny delivery style made the team feel right at home. I would highly recommend Alison if you are looking to inspire and motivate your team in the future.
Alison's session was genuinely inspiring and incredibly relevant to our B2B teams. Not only did she bring real experience and relatable, tangible stories, but she also spent the morning with us and seamlessly wove our own content into her talk which made it land even more powerfully. Her message encouraged us to be braver, try new things, and reconnect with the skills we sometimes forget we have. The session was motivating, practical, and directly applicable to our roles. Our teams loved her energy, her authenticity, and her encouragement. A fantastic addition to our annual B2B Kick-Off.
Nick, Nespresso Alison was so engaging and inspirational in her approach on stage, immediately capturing the attention of her audience. I know that our managers went away with lots of things to think about and a few new tools that they can use as a leader within our business. I was so impressed by the care and attention Alison puts into her session prior to the event with several working group conversations to ensure the content was tailored to our conference key messages and overall theme, this really made a difference linking in with our day. We would be thrilled to work with Alison again and have no doubt in recommending her to anyone looking for a wonderful speaker & host!
Shaun, WHSmith Travel
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Frequently asked questions about booking a retail speaker
Has Alison Edgar worked with retailers?
Yes. Dr Alison Edgar MBE has delivered keynotes and sessions for WHSmith, Currys, Nespresso, Henkel and Avon, among others, from store manager conferences to head-office events and B2B sales kick-offs.
What does a retail audience get from her session?
A way of thinking that works at every level of a retail business. Her framework, The Intrapreneur Mindset, asks every colleague three questions, ending on “what would I do if it were my business?” WHSmith’s organiser thanked her for opening their teams’ eyes to an intrapreneurial way of thinking, and Currys’ team connected the content to real work and home situations.
Does it work for store managers as well as head office?
Yes, and that mix is where it works best. Alison grew up in frontline hospitality and sales, so she speaks the language of people who face customers all day, while the ownership message gives area and store managers a practical way to run their patch like their own.
What kind of retail events does Alison speak at?
Annual conferences, store and area manager events, B2B and sales kick-offs, peak-season rallies and awards evenings, in person across the UK and internationally, or virtually.
How much does it cost to book Alison Edgar?
Fees depend on the format, time of year, location and audience size. The quickest way to get a figure for your event is the instant quote calculator, and you will have an estimate in minutes.
Book Alison for your next conference
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