WITH just one month to go until the Scottish Wholesale Association’s Connex Conference and evening dinner in Glasgow on Thursday, 28th May, details of the keynote speaker and business sessions have been revealed as organisers urge those who wish to attend to book their places as soon as possible.
Keynote speaker Felix Riley, an entrepreneur, financier and former comedy writer, who helps organisations and business leaders adopt “bigger thinking on their biggest challenges” and shows how ambition can turn into good outcomes, promises a presentation that is “not motivational fluff”. Instead, the author and commentator will inspire and challenge his audience, providing a toolkit for action.
Ahead of the conference, SWA president Tom Slaven commented: “With its focus on preparing Scotland’s wholesale sector not just to respond to today’s challenges, but to thrive in the decades ahead, the SWA Connex Conference really is a ‘must attend’ event for all wholesalers and our supply chain partners.
“This year’s conference is designed to give our members the insight, inspiration and practical tools they need to build resilient businesses that can withstand global uncertainty, embrace innovation and play a vital role in Scotland’s future food system.”
Kicking off the morning sessions which come under the Building Wholesale Resilience – The Path to 2050 banner, insights professional Tanya Pepin, co-founder and managing director of TWC and fellow speakers will explore how wholesalers can build resilience in the face of global conflict, climate change, supply chain disruption and shifting consumer demand.
Delegates will hear that, by 2050, the wholesale sector could look radically different. Survival will depend not just on good buying practice, but on creativity, adaptability and new trading models. Attendees will be taken on a forward-looking journey, including TWC Channel Track Insights: A view of how total grocery is performing across small basket retail, food to go, delivery and hospitality – revealing where wholesale is winning, where it’s losing, and how to engage the customer of the future.
Meanwhile, Colin Campbell, chief executive of the world-leading Scottish scientific research organisation the James Hutton Institute, will lead the session titled Planet & the Scottish Supply Chain in 2050: How climate change and global instability will impact food production, sourcing and logistics. He will explain why Scotland could play a vital role in sustainable food security and share in-depth insight on the likely future impacts on food production and transportation.
In a session headlined The Resilient Operator – Outlet of the Future Case Study, delegates will hear a real-world example of an operator that has already adapted to changing consumer needs, offering a practical template for what’s possible. This will be followed by a panel discussion titled Building a Resilience Blueprint – Route to Market Trading to 2050. Here, wholesalers, suppliers and producers will debate how the channel can move beyond volume-led trading to embrace innovation, local sourcing, and new categories fit for the consumer of 2050. One of the panel members will be former Booker executive Martin Swadling, now Co-op Wholesale’s customer director.
And with politics never far away from the day-to-day challenges of running a business, and the conference taking place just days after the Holyrood election, the SWA’s head of public affairs, Jayne Swanson, will provide a post-election overview of Scotland’s new political landscape. Organisers also hope to welcome a representative of the new government to offer first-hand insight into policy priorities for the next parliamentary term.
In an afternoon packed with practical, inspiring takeaways, sessions will include a presentation titled The Future of Marketing: Building Your Brand from Ross Macdonald, head of strategy at the creative agency Frame, who will share how strong, authentic brands drive growth and relevance.
Later, Martin McCardle, regional operations manager at Brakes Scotland – winner of the 2026 Achievers Great Place to Work trophy – will share how practical changes have helped the wholesaler successfully recruit for hard-to-fill roles and improve retention in a presentation titled Building a Great Place to Work. He will be joined by David Summerhill, lecturer in Human Resource Management and HR, organisational development and change specialist at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Another key component of the one-day Connex Conference, which is being held at the voco Grand Central Glasgow Hotel, is a Vendor Village exhibition featuring producers, suppliers, and SWA service provider members. There will also be compliance clinics on the UK deposit return scheme (DRS), packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR), employment rights, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) to offer hands-on support, expert advice, and facilitate new partnerships.
SWA chief executive Colin Smith said: “The conference presents a unique opportunity for our members, suppliers and stakeholders to gather for a day of discussion, contemplation and networking – a valuable platform for sharing information, new ideas and knowledge that can help everyone focus on their immediate priorities and longer-term goals. Please join us in Glasgow on 28th May.”
The SWA Connex Conference is sponsored by AG Barr, Carlsberg Britvic, Invest Northern Ireland, McCain, Magnum, Sazerac, Orderlion and TWC.
To book and for ticket information and prices, go to: https://scottishwholesale.glueup.com/event/swa-connex-conference-2026-169987/tickets.html
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