SSA UK Conference 2025

Kate Ancketill

Futurist

Kate stands as a distinguished authority in the realm of global retail and business futurism, boasting unparalleled expertise in retail dynamics, consumer behaviour, brand strategy, hospitality trends, and cutting-edge technology. With an adept ability to decipher intricate societal shifts and emerging technologies, Kate excels at making these complex concepts relatable for diverse audiences. As the esteemed CEO and founder of GDR, Kate brings over 25 years of invaluable experience in business futurism and trend analysis. Serving as the innovation partner to approximately 30 of the world's foremost consumer brands, she provides top-tier consultancy and delivers captivating keynote speeches to industry giants such as P&G, Tesco, Waitrose, Target, Sephora, Microsoft, Google, and Lego. Kate's presentations transcend mere business discussions; she weaves compelling big-picture narratives that delve into the profound impacts of macro forces on the economy, the planet, culture, and technology. Backed by a team of adept researchers and strategists, she identifies global trends and presents innovation case studies that serve as beacons of successful business adaptation, offering invaluable lessons for others in the field. As a dedicated full-time professional conference speaker, Kate's versatility extends to engagements in various mediums, including television, radio, podcasts, panel discussions, board advisories, client presentations, and print. Her commitment to delivering impartial insights underscores her reputation as a trusted expert in navigating the intricate landscape of global business and retail futurism.

---

Alexis Conran

Conference Chair

Alexis Conran, TV Presenter, Times Radio Presenter, and Actor (LAMDA trained) is best known as the man who identifies, uncovers, and helps us to protect our businesses and ourselves against scams. As writer and presenter of the highly acclaimed BBC TV show, The Real Hustle, he is in the rare position of being able to advise and educate even the most foolhardy, on issues surrounding security and risk (in the real and virtual world), and identify the human behaviour, communication skills, and confidence tricks that the world’s top scammers rely on to achieve their unscrupulous aims. He hosts his own weekend review show on Times Radio and since May 2023 has been hosting his own daytime show on Channel 5.  He also contributes to ITV’s This Morning and BBC Radio 4 and 5Live and was crowned champion of Celebrity MasterChef in 2016.

---

Christel Land

Clover 4

Christel Land is a popular business coach/consultant and an experienced sales and marketing trainer with extensive experience working in the self storage industry.  She regularly delivers sales, service, and marketing training sessions for the SSA UK and FEDESSA.  She started out in self storage over 20 years ago and since then she has worked at every level of the industry. It is this experience she brings to her training and coaching. Christel also works with web design and specializes in building smart booking systems for self storage websites. She is the author of the only book to date on sales in the self storage industry.  Combining her engaging training style with an enormous amount of industry knowledge, Christel will give you all the tools you need to grow your sales skills and improve your performance.

---

Jill Leckie

Developed by Me

Jill trained at one of the most prestigious digital schools in the world, Hyper Island. She is an accredited Facebook marketing manager and Google Ads and G4 properties manager. Having worked within the self storage vertical for almost 3 years now, Jill is very excited about the future of marketing and advertising within the self storage industry. The opportunities are limitless. Her advice for any new client is “Don’t stress too much about being perfect in this digital age. There can be no such thing as perfection because the digital landscape is changing too quickly. All we can do is test, review, iterate, and test again. Data is everything.”

---

Philip Macauley

Cushman & Wakefield

Philip joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2019 to lead the Self Storage Team. Philip joins with a wealth of experience including the valuation of operational and trading assets, naturally including self storage, alongside the more traditional sectors. Most recently, Philip worked at Colliers, where he oversaw the valuation of trading assets such as self storage, public houses, cinemas and gymnasiums.  In the main, Philip’s involvement has focused on valuations for financial reporting basis along with loan security and portfolios. Philip is known by all the main stream lenders active in the property sector including Barclays, RBS, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander, Metrobank, Coutts and AIB together with a range of bridging financiers and other debt providers.

---

Laura Moxham

YBA

Laura started YBA (Your Business Angels) in 2014 having a lightbulb moment after attending a marketing course in Google Ads. Implementing what she learned in the following six months, they attracted 108 new customers, adding £30,340 to their turnover, with a huge ROI of 220%. From there, she invested heavily in learning, travelling the world, attending programs and courses from some of the biggest marketing names in the world; devouring book after book, course after course, and spent a solid six months of her life studying her new craft, day and night. 8 years later and with multiple awards under her belt and earning the prestigious accolades of being both a Google Premier partner and in the top 3% of agencies, Laura can tell you how using Google Ads and Facebook Ads can transform your business and produce new enquires like a well-oiled machine!

---

Rennie Schafer

SSA UK & FEDESSA

Rennie is the current CEO of the Self Storage Association UK & FEDESSA, having previously been the CEO of the Australasian Self Storage Association for over 9 years.  Rennie has extensive knowledge of the self storage industry across the world, from the developing Asian markets through to the birthplace of self storage in the USA.  He has over 25 years of association management experience 19 at CEO level.  Rennie is also on the Board of the Institute of Association Leadership, has an MBA and completed the Oxford University High performance leadership programme.

---

Trevor Williams

Economist

Trevor Williams served as Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank for over a decade. Now an author, academic and consultant, he analyses the key trends and policies that shape the economy and markets. From energy and climate to how companies use their data to understand the wider economy, he brings clarity and relevance to an often complex and abstract field.

Trevor worked for the civil service whilst studying for his economics PhD, after which he went on to work for over 30 years as an economist in the City, most notably at Lloyds. His professional life has encompassed equity and foreign exchange, forecasting and financial analysis. Today he provides clear insight into how politics, demographics and trade shape economies and economic trends.

From earnings and inflation to stock markets and trade deals, Trevor explores what is going on in the economy and what it means to organisations and individuals. Looking at both the global and the local, the long and short term, he explains what the numbers really reveal. With a focus on interpreting the information as it is, not as people might think or wish it was, he considers the effects of disruptions like Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, and how (and how quickly) economies can recover and what actions influence that recovery.

Trevor also studies what risks businesses and government face and how the economy will react. In particular, he looks at the political economics of climate change, including the risks for investors, insurers and the general population that this existential challenge could impose. He also examines the economics of energy; the likelihood, causes and potential effects of energy shortages and what decisions and policies have increased the risk of energy reserves running low, as well as the cost to businesses and consumers.

As rotating Chair of the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Shadow Monetary Policy Committee Trevor keeps a close eye on Bank of England decisions and direction of travel. He unpicks the impact of interest rates, monetary policy and quantitative easing and translates them into useful intelligence businesses can use to inform strategy. He also reveals how companies can use their own big data sets to reveal insights into the broader economy and their place within it.

Along with his own blog, Trevor writes regularly on financial and market matters, including a regular column in the personal finance magazine Moneyfacts. He is the co-author of Trading Economics, a clear guide to the statistics and indicators that underpin market economics. He is a Professor at St Mary’s University, London and Visiting Professor at the University of Derby.

---