Tomorrow (11 November 2026), in London, retail leaders will meet to explore how circularity, innovation and collaboration are transforming the future of the industry – at the Products of Change Conference 2026.
Held at the Royal Geographical Society, the conference is promising presentations and panel debates on key subjects from representatives from The Works, Asda, The H&M Group, Decathlon and more.
Matthew Graham, head of quality assurance, sourcing & sustainability, and Sam Meyrick, sustainability manager for The Works, will kick things off in the retail stream by exploring how the changing regulatory landscape, including Extended Producer Responsibility, is encouraging businesses to rethink packaging, strengthen supplier collaboration and drive new opportunities.
Lynne Tooms, chief commercial officer for The Works, will then join a retailer panel alongside some other big retail sustainability names: Chris Allen, business transformation and director of sustainability & circular economy at Decathlon; Dylan Ross, business process lead at H&M; and Elle Walshe, head of sourcing & sustainability for non-food at Asda.
The key theme of the panel is unlocking circularity at scale and what is needed from across the value chain to enable its implementation.
The 2026 programme builds on Products of Change’s continued engagement with the retail industry, with last year’s conference featuring Tesco and Ikea among others. Products of Change – which is a not-for-profit membership group – believes retail has a pivotal role to play in accelerating transformation across the wider consumer products industry.
Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder & CEO of Products of Change, remarked: “Retail is absolutely pivotal to the transformation of our industry.
“Retailers sit at the intersection of brands, manufacturers, suppliers and consumers, and the decisions they make have an enormous influence on how products are designed, sourced, manufactured, sold and ultimately kept in use.”
She added: “What is so exciting is that we’re seeing sustainability move from a separate business consideration to something that is driving innovation, efficiencies and new commercial opportunities.
“But no retailer, brand or manufacturer can unlock circularity alone. We need greater collaboration across the entire value chain, sharing knowledge, aligning expectations and building the systems that make better product decisions easier for everyone.”
‘The Style Atelier’: Sustainability, accountability, purpose on agenda at Spring Fair 2026
The retail programme, tomorrow, forms part of a wider conference bringing together global brand owners, manufacturers and innovators to explore how sustainability is becoming embedded into the future of consumer products.
[image credit: Green Retail World]
