Spring & Autumn Fair has re-launched Inside Retail, a year-round retail content platform designed to provide 24/7, 365-day insight into the industry, with a new fortnightly podcast.
Created to extend the conversation beyond the Spring Fair and Autumn Fair show floors, Inside Retail will bring together retailers, buyers, brands, industry experts and thought leaders to explore the ideas and issues shaping retail now and next.
The new Podcast will form a key part of the platform, with episodes spanning retail trends, consumer behaviour, technology, independent retail, fashion, licensing, social commerce and the future of the high street. The series will feature a mix of retail leaders and practitioners, giving listeners access to perspectives and experiences from across the industry.
The podcast will launch with Ami Rabheru, retail strategist and founder of Retail Huddle, followed by British fashion designer and retail entrepreneur Jeff Banks, and Charlotte Broadbent, Head of International Partnerships and Marketing at Faire, whose career has spanned investment, luxury retail, retail operations and independent retail. The series will be hosted by members of the Spring & Autumn Fair team including Jackson Szabo, Fay Tranter, Matthew Mein and Morgan Swinford, with episodes designed to be practical, provocative and relevant to the realities facing retailers and brands today.
Kicking off the series, Ami Rabheru will explore what is really happening in retail as businesses look towards 2027. Her episode will examine what retailers are most worried about and what is genuinely exciting them, alongside changing consumer behaviour, the role of physical stores, technology and the challenges facing independent retailers.
The episode will also introduce a new recurring feature, Buy or Bye, in which each guest is presented with a real product and asked for an instant verdict: would they buy it, or give it a bye? The feature explores not only the product itself, but what makes consumers pick something up, what makes them put it back and what it says about the wider retail landscape. Ami will be challenged with a £300 AI-powered smart shopping trolley.
The second episode, launching on 29th October, sees Jeff Banks reflect on more than five decades at the heart of British fashion. With a career spanning generations of change in fashion and retail, Jeff will discuss what it takes to build a brand that lasts, how the industry has evolved and the balance between creativity and commercial reality.
The conversation will also explore the changing relationship between online and physical retail and what today’s designers and retailers can learn from previous generations as they navigate a rapidly changing market. Jeff will also take part in Buy or Bye, giving his verdict on a £500 designer suit bought entirely online and considering whether this represents the future of fashion retail.
The third episode, launching on 12th November, welcomes Charlotte Broadbent of Faire to explore the data behind the future of independent retail. Charlotte sits at the intersection of retail, technology and independent business, with experience spanning investment and luxury retail before moving to Faire, where she works closely with independent retailers and brands across the UK and beyond. Her episode will explore what millions of wholesale transactions can reveal about what retailers are actually buying, and which trends could become significantly bigger over the next 12 months. The conversation will also examine the return of individuality in retail, the rise of AI and where technology can genuinely help smaller businesses compete, while considering where retailers should continue to prioritise the human touch.
Following the launch episodes, the podcast will continue with a programme of guests and subjects, including Alison Battisby, founder of Avocado Social, discussing social media, creators, social commerce and AI; Laura Rudoe, founder of Evolve Beauty, exploring purpose-led brands and the conscious consumer; Steve Manners of Licensing International, examining the growing commercial opportunity in licensing; and John Abbate of Westminster City Council, looking at the future of the high street.
Episodes will be released fortnightly across Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, as well as being hosted prominently on the Inside Retail platform.
The aim is to build a year-round connection and community that extends beyond the Spring Fair and Autumn Fair show floor, creating an ongoing source of insight and inspiration for independent retailers, buyers, decision-makers, brands and the wider retail community.
Fay Tranter, Event Director of Spring Fair says, “Inside Retail is about keeping the retail conversation going all year round. Our shows bring the industry together face to face, but the conversations, challenges and opportunities facing retailers don’t stop when the doors close. We wanted to create a platform that gives the industry access to great people, useful insight and fresh thinking 365 days a year. The podcast gives us the opportunity to have deeper, more honest conversations with the people shaping retail, from retailers and founders to technology experts, designers and industry leaders. We want listeners to come away with something they can think about, question or take back to their business.”
With new episodes every two weeks and a growing programme of guests, Inside Retail will provide an always-on platform for the conversations shaping the industry, connecting the retail community between the shows and keeping the ideas, insight and inspiration moving throughout the year.
Listen and find out more: https://www.springfair.com/retail-news/retail-news-podcasts
