Sports and Outdoor

Upma Vermani is working as Senior Manager, Consumer Insights at Adidas. She has been responsible for designing and managing the point calibration system and analytics for Creators Club, the recently launched Adidas membership program in the US.

In the past, she has worked as a Data Scientist with Singapore-based NTUC Link, which operates Singapore's largest consumer rewards programs. Upma has more than 7 years of experience in analytics and market research and would be sharing some insights about her work at Adidas today.

Calvin is Head of Marketing at independent cycle retailer Sigma Sports. Calvin has been involved in the development of Sigma Sports marketing strategy over the past 6 years, supporting the business as it has grown from a single store retailer to a multi-channel, multisite operation, reaching customers around the world.

Calvin has over 15 years marketing experience, having previously lead UK marketing programs for Kelly Services, the multi-national recruitment services organisation and also working in the tech industry at the world's largest job search engine, Indeed.com.

Daniel is the Content and Social Media Manager at independent cycle retailer Sigma Sports. Over the last five years, Daniel has spearheaded the content and social media strategy, creating content for both Sigma Sports and the brands they work with. Growing Sigma Sports' social media channels, the investment in the photography and videography team is an area Daniel is extremely passionate about.

Daniel comes from a cycling background, with over 20 years experience on two wheels. Racing both in the UK and abroad, as well as, more recently, tackling events around Europe, he always has an eye on the ever-changing trends in customer behaviour and the professional racing aspect of the sport.

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Grenade’s Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Juliet Barratt, has had a fascinating career which has spanned education, charity and training, before she succeeded in the world of marketing and sports nutrition, joining her husband, Alan’s sports nutrition distribution business and then launching market-leading sports performance and active nutrition brand, Grenade®.

Rob is Head of Marketing at London based performance running wear brand SOAR Running. Rob joined SOAR at the start of 2017, with a focus on driving both the brand’s direct to consumer growth and targeted wholesale presence. Rob has worked to cement SOAR’s position as the UK’s leading premium running apparel brand via its unique events, partnerships, content and grass roots activations. Rob’s role has seen SOAR grow its credibility amongst the dedicated running community in the UK, establishing its unique and market leading offering in terms of both performance and style.

Adrian is the Digital Experience Manager at Life Fitness, the global leader in fitness equipment and solutions. Adrian lead’s the strategy in the UK for Digital supporting the business in providing their customers with new, innovative solutions that get the world moving and help people lead active and healthy lives.

Adrian has spent the last 6 years working for Google and Apple within sales and product management and with Customer Experience always at the forefront of Adrian’s mind he brings that background and expertise with him to Life Fitness.

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Hollie joined Muc-Off in 2019 as Global PR & Comms Manager and was promoted later that year to Head of Marketing for the brand’s bicycle category. She is the strategic lead and departmental head responsible for developing and owning the delivery, analysis and continual improvement of marketing and communications strategies and their implementation.

Hollie has grown in a range of different bike brands from accessories through to high-end bikes. She is an enthusiastic rider of multiple bike disciplines and brings that love of 2 wheels to everything she does.

Diversity is a topic that Hollie holds close to her heart and she has skilfully applied that to the creation of a range of initiatives that promote DE&I in cycling across the globe.

Andrew Denton has been working in Outdoor Recreation since 1984, starting in outdoor education then moving to a series of senior management and business ownership roles with brands such as Rohan, Mountain Equipment, Sprayway, Ronhill and many more. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of the modern Mountain Equipment brand where he worked for 17 years.

Today he is CEO of the Outdoor Industries Association the non-profit body that represents the UK Outdoor Recreation sector to government and across the world. He is Secretary General of the European Outdoor Group Coalition ‘Its Great Out There’ - based in Brussels to increase Outdoor activity in Europe.

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Ed is the UK Head of Marketing for the leading global bicycle brand Specialized, having joined the business in 2017. With 10 years of experience working in the Cycling Industry, Ed has held senior brand marketing roles in the UK and Asia-Pacific for a number of large cycling and sports brands, including SCOTT Sports and Cannondale. He also worked for Adidas on their partnership with Team Sky. Since joining Specialized, Ed has redesigned the brand’s UK marketing strategy, and led planning and activation, with the UK marketing team launching a number of campaigns and products to market.

Ronnie, a Sports Science (Outdoor Activities) graduate from Leeds University in 2008, began her career in the outdoor industry. After gaining outdoor instructing qualifications at Plas Y Brenin, she transitioned to her passion for performance textiles with a Master's from Manchester Metropolitan University. Her dissertation, based on research in Svalbard, led to a Garment Designer role at Rab. She later joined Alpkit as Senior Designer for Clothing in 2015 and is now the Design Manager, expanding the brand's product range with a focus on functional design. Ronnie actively contributes to industry projects and is a member of the OIA Development Board.

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Giles is the Managing Director at Tough Mudder Ltd, market leader in the obstacle course space and home to an incredible community in Mudder Nation. Since joining the team in 2014 he has helped establish TM as a brand which delivers unconventional life-changing experiences; growing a tribe that lives courage, personal accomplishment, teamwork & fun.An early career in the outdoor industry is where Giles developed his passion for the transformative power of adventure. Initially based out of residential centres he enjoyed a variety of roles in coaching, education and management before transitioning into the Live Events space.

Siggy is the Digital Innovation Leader for Decathlon, UK with over 12 years experience in digital marketing and digital platform deployments. He is a data driven professional who has worked both on the Agency side and the Brand side to make sure businesses can thrive in the digital world. In Decathlon he is responsible to lead all the technical strategies around connecting the ecosystem of sports to offer a seamless experience for users in the digital and physical space.

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Gareth is currently the EMEA Social Media Manager for Garmin, where he works with Garmin’s individual countries in helping spread Garmin’s message in social media. Previously, Gareth has worked at Burt’s Bees, TUI and Microsoft and is a social media, sport and fitness nut, enjoying bringing all of these things together within Garmin.

Nick is an Entrepreneur, Apparel Sesigner and Consultant, with a bias towards eCommerce, creative and content. He is best known as the founder of urban cycling brand Vulpine, one of the most talked about British apparel startups of recent years, due to it's innovative product, inclusive brand and an explosion of creative marketing.

In 2018 he created FRAHM, making super tough, stylish yet technical jackets for men. He wanted to create a kinder men's brand, more open to talking about men's mental health. FRAHM is "In Aid Of" mental health charity Mind. Purely an online brand, it sells most of it's stock in advance.

Nick started racing bikes aged 13 and now slowly potters around Somerset with or without small children in tow."

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Christian, a serial entrepreneur and investor, co-founded Midnight Runners in 2014, now a global urban fitness community with chapters across Europe, America, and Asia. In 2015, he co-founded Sweet Capital, the King.com founders fund, and has invested in 35+ consumer-mobile companies, primarily in California. He serves on the boards of various fitness and wellness-related firms, including Wave TV (the 4th largest sports media company on social with 1bn monthly page views), Springmoves (an app providing running and walking playlists by BPM), and Caura (a tracker for glucose and lactate optimization in training). In 2017, he co-founded myCrew, the world's leading social network for fitness, set to host 20k urban fitness events globally this year.

David ‘DA’ Alexander heads up the Turbo (E-Bike) category for Specialized in the UK Market. With a long history at the brand, DA has an exceptional amount of knowledge in cycling and, specifically, in Specialized. Prior to taking on the Category Leadership role, DA spent several years managing the SBCU Education program. In his current role, he manages the entire strategy for E-Bike in the UK, including consumer analytics, product ranging, distribution planning and marketing activation.