Paul Bessant

Paul’s nascent career was spent on the frontline of retail at the likes of Sainsbury’s, Homebase, Co-Op and ALDI where he acquired extensive knowledge of retail operations and management.

Subsequently he took a position with the eCommerce Trade Association’s CommerceNet Consortium and The European Ecommerce Association (EEA), a position that he held for several years.

After two years on secondment at the European Commission, Paul then founded Retail Knowledge in 2002. Over the last 20 years Paul has guided the business through many turbulent times, always with a focus on helping retailers to collaborate better with each other and with the industry’s leading suppliers in order to mitigate risk and defeat crime.

Today his Retail Risk conference series has grown to become the largest retail risk management and loss prevention conference series in the world, with events taking place across five continents annually. His weekly podcasts are enjoyed by thousands around the world and was recently awarded the accolades of the most influential podcast in risk management and the seventh most influential in the whole of retail. He is a sort after speaker and industry expert.