Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
A veteran of the world of housewares retailing is the latest addition to the line-up of speakers at The Housewares Conference 2014.
Yossi Gliksman is the founder and proprietor of Upstairs Downstairs, based in the Shropshire market town of Owestry. Established in 1987, the specialist cookshop is the winner of the Best Cookshop category of the Housewares Retail Innovation Awards 2013.
During his presentation, Yossi will be reflecting on almost 30 years of trading, during which time his business has relocated, extended and developed, with initiatives including a Cookery Workshop and lifestyle shop. He will also discuss the housewares industry’s current performance and predict prospects for the future.
In a feature that appears in the November/December 2013 issue of Housewares Magazine, he comments: “We’ve worked so damned hard over the past years. Other shops have come and gone but we’re still here. It’s down to hard work and perseverance and a will to survive. That’s something we’ve been doing since 1987.”
Yossi’s fellow speakers at the conference will include Paul Britland, buyer for Wilkinson, who has worked in the housewares industry for more than 25 years. He will chart Wilkinson’s rise from its first store openings to the present day and give an insight into its supplier and product development plans for the future.
Also taking to the stage will be Anne Harrison, vice chairwoman of the Women’s Institute, who was recently one of the four judges on ITV’s ‘Food Glorious Food’ alongside Tom Parker Bowles, Stacie Stewart and Lloyd Grossman.
She will be joined by Sam Kelly, a TSR director within the Retail and Technology division of market research company GfK, and Erol Sukan, business group director of GfK.
Other confirmed speakers are Katie King, managing director of PR and social media agency Zoodikers Consulting, John Ryan, stores editor of business magazine ‘Retail Week’ and Michael Weedon, deputy CEO and communications director of bira (British Independent Retailers Association).
The conference will be hosted by Will Jones, housewares executive director of BHETA (British Home Enhancement Trade Association). Will said: “I’m delighted to be asked to host the Housewares Conference as ultimately events such as these are for the benefit of all associated with the industry.”
The event takes place on March 26 at Wokefield Park in Reading, alongside the Housewares Innovation Awards.
Host for the Awards ceremony will be TV chef Malcolm Harradine, while the Awards will be presented by Ben Ebbrell and Barry Taylor, founders and directors of SORTED, the UK’s largest social media cooking channel.
To book your own place at either the conference or awards or both please visit www.housewaresconference.net or call Laurie Marrington on 01622 699103 or email her at lmarrington@datateam.co.uk.
