Retailers including bp, Booths, Co-op and Morrisons shared how they're linking store planning and execution at the Worcester summit
DALLAS, Oct. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Logile, Inc., a global leader in AI-powered Connected Workforce solutions, hosted its first Connect EMEA event on Oct. 14 at Sixways Stadium, bringing together retail and grocery leaders from across the UK and EMEA. Speakers from bp, Booths, Co-op and Morrisons shared how they're connecting the way stores are planned with the way they're run.
Connect EMEA is a new community for the people who run retail and grocery operations in the region. The day centred on the connected store, where forecasting, labour planning, fresh and inventory decisions draw on shared data so head office and store teams work from the same picture.
Tony Robinson, head of intelligent operations at bp, opened the customer sessions with a look at how digital tools turn into better moments on the shop floor. Chris Thompson, labour planning manager at Booths, walked through five years of workforce management at the grocer. Co-op's Jay Brereton, head of operational change delivery & capacity, and Steve Nolan, labour planning manager, as well as Morrisons' Alex Rose, head of productivity - labour planning, closed the customer programme with two views on moving from first steps to business as usual.
Across the customer sessions, a common theme emerged: lasting operational improvements come from connecting workforce planning with the realities of store execution, supported by strong collaboration between central teams and store colleagues. Retailers shared practical lessons from their transformation journeys, highlighting the importance of listening to frontline teams, adapting along the way and continuously improving how stores operate.
"Most retailers we work with already have a plan they believe in," said James Freshwater, vice president - UK, EMEA & International at Logile. "The harder part is getting that plan to hold up at 4 p.m. on a busy Saturday, when the people on the shop floor need the same picture as the people who built the schedule. We started Connect EMEA because retailers learn more from each other about closing that gap than they do from any vendor pitch, ours included."
Chris Love, co-founder of TCN Capital, delivered the opening keynote, and Evelyn McMullen of Nucleus Research led a fireside chat on "The Connected Store Imperative."
"We're seeing retailers add individual technology solutions to address specific challenges, only to find that disconnected systems create additional cost and complexity," said Evelyn McMullen, research director at Nucleus Research. "As stores take on more responsibilities, from traditional shopping to online fulfillment and other services, the need for coordinated planning and execution becomes even more important. Connecting workforce, inventory and other operational functions around a shared demand signal helps retailers make more consistent decisions across the business, with opportunities to reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction and lower operational risk."
Connect EMEA event sponsors included the following LogileONE partners: title sponsor FrontlineXP, gold sponsor Connors Group, and silver sponsors ReThink Productivity, Scott-Grant and YOOBIC. FrontlineXP co-founders Rob Bate and Matt Lovitt talked through what it takes to carry a workforce strategy all the way to the store.
"Implementing workforce technology is often the easy part. Getting real value from it is much harder," said Rob Bate, co-founder of FrontlineXP. "The retailers that get it right see it as an opportunity to transform how they operate. That starts with understanding how things work today, what needs to change and how managers can make better decisions. Go-live is just a milestone, not a measure of success. The real test comes afterwards, measuring the impact, reinforcing new ways of working and making sure old ways don't creep back in. That's what turns the technology investment into real, measurable improvements in business performance."
Logile also previewed its product roadmap for the Connected Workforce Platform. Logile's roadmap highlighted the next evolution of its Connected Workforce Platform, bringing together more than 20 years of innovation in forecasting, workforce planning and store operations around a shared, AI-powered understanding of demand. From Enterprise Productivity Simulator (EPS) and Long-Term Staff Planning to AI agents that provide actionable guidance and automate routine tasks, the focus is on helping retailers make better decisions, plan with greater confidence and free store teams to be more present for customers.
About Logile
Logile helps retailers run great stores with confidence. As a global leader in AI-powered Connected Workforce solutions, Logile cuts through operational chaos with one platform and one plan to keep every shift, shelf and store in sync. A retail AI trailblazer founded in 2005, Logile makes demand-driven operations real and repeatable by unifying forecasting, labor scheduling, task execution, inventory, fresh item management and food safety into a single platform. The result: less waste, labor aligned to real demand, stronger execution and consistently better-performing stores. Learn more at logile.com.
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Idea Grove, on behalf of Logile
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