Spring & Autumn Fair has relaunched its year-round content platform, Inside Retail, with a new fortnightly podcast exploring the trends, challenges and opportunities facing retailers and brands.
Extending discussions beyond the trade shows, the series brings together retailers, buyers, brands and industry experts to discuss independent retail, fashion, consumer behaviour, technology, licensing, social commerce and the high street.
Initial guests include Ami Rabheru, retail strategist and founder of Retail Huddle; British fashion designer and retail entrepreneur Jeff Banks; and Charlotte Broadbent, head of international partnerships and marketing at Faire.
Rabheru opens the series exploring retailers’ concerns and opportunities for 2027, including changing consumer behaviour, physical stores, technology and challenges facing independent businesses. Her episode introduces Buy or Bye, a recurring feature asking guests whether they would buy a product and why, with an assessment of a £300 AI-powered smart shopping trolley.
Episodes will be released fortnightly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, and hosted on the Inside Retail platform.
Banks’ episode launches on 29 October, drawing on more than five decades in British fashion to explore lasting brands, the industry’s evolution and balancing creativity with commercial demands. He will also discuss online and physical retail, lessons for designers and retailers, and a £500 designer suit bought entirely online for Buy or Bye.
Broadbent’s episode follows on 12 November, examining how data from millions of wholesale transactions reveals buying patterns and trends with growth potential over the next 12 months. She will also discuss individuality in retail, how AI can help smaller businesses compete and where to retain the human touch.
Further guests include Alison Battisby, founder of Avocado Social, on social media, creators, social commerce and AI; Laura Rudoe, founder of Evolve Beauty, on purpose-led brands and conscious consumers; Steve Manners of Licensing International on commercial opportunities in licensing; and John Abbate of Westminster City Council on the future of the high street.
Commenting is Fay Tranter, event director of Spring Fair.
“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.”
Listen and find out more here.