Dr Alan Treadgold

Global Retail Specialist

Dr Alan Treadgold, retail and consumer strategist, is the Global Head of Retail Strategy at Leo Burnett and Company in London, having worked at their Sydney office as Director of Research and Consulting for many years. 

Alan is widely recognised as a leading thinker on global retailing trends. He has advised leading retailers in Australia and Asia on corporate strategy market positioning and operational improvement issues and is a regular keynote speaker and presenter at industry conferences throughout the world on major trends shaping the future of the retail and consumer products industries. In the last two years he has presented at major industry conferences and conducted senior management seminars in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong, in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. He is the author of over 80 books, papers and articles on strategic trends in retailing.

Prior to joining ACRS, Alan was a Senior Consultant in the retail industry consulting practice of Coopers & Lybrand in London. He joined C & L in 1991 and consulted on issues of corporate strategy, market development, performance improvement and business analysis to leading retail companies in the UK, Continental Europe, North America and Africa.

Before joining C & L he spent over three years from 1988 as a principal researcher and lecturer with the Oxford Institute of Retail Management (OXIRM) at Templeton College, the University of Oxford’s business school. He initiated and developed OXIRM’s research into the emerging globalisation of retailing and designed and delivered executive development programs to leading UK and European retail groups. He was awarded his doctorate in geography from the University of Oxford in 1988.

Alan initiated the annual ACRS Retail Meter survey in 1997 as a means to rigorously assess the pulse and health of the retail industry in Australia. The survey is now widely recognised as a key barometer of the state of the industry. Since its inception, the survey has been supported by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

From 1995 to 2000 Alan was Executive Director of The Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) at Monash University, Melbourne. He has led the development of ACRS into one of the most widely respected centres for management development and retail industry research in Australia and the Asian region.  From 2003-2007 Alan was Retail Head at Leo Burnett in Sydney and has been in his current role as Global Head of Retail Strategy in London since 2009.

Dr Treadgold is well known for his extensive consulting and advisory experience with leading retail and consumer products companies from around the globe.