NACS Convenience Summit Europe

Henry Armour is the president and CEO of NACS. He grew up working in his family’s retail businesses, Armour Oil Company, rising to the position of vice president and COO in 1977. In 1980, he joined The Standard Oil Company of Ohio, where he served as manager of development strategies. He later founded West Star Corporation, which grew to include 59 NOW! convenience stores, truck stops and quick-service restaurants in the Pacific Northwest until he sold the company in 2004. In 1988, Armour founded Epoch Corporation, which operated retail enterprises in California.

He became president and CEO of NACS in July 2005, having also served as the association’s chairman in 2002 and 2003. Armour earned a BA in economics from Stanford University, an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics, and an MBA and PhD in economics from Stanford University.

As the manager for bp’s Low Carbon Innovation & Scale-up team within their technology segment, Drew is responsible for developing and commercializing new low carbon fuel technologies for bp in advanced biofuels and e-fuels production and supply.

Drew joined bp in 2010 after receiving his PhD in chemical engineering and worked on the development of new process technologies for the conversion of sustainable biogenic feedstocks to transportation fuels and chemicals. He has since held senior process engineering and engineering superintendent roles in bp’s largest oil refinery, Whiting refinery, near Chicago, USA. He is currently based in Hull, UK at bp’s Low Carbon Innovation Centre.

Tom Fleming is a partner at Oliver Wyman (OW), specializing in retail and travel loyalty. Tom has spent 10 years at OW working on a broad spectrum of loyalty topics, including; program (re)design, transfer pricing and economics, credit card strategy, partnership negotiations, program spinoffs and merges. Tom has global loyalty experience working with leading convenience and fuels retailers, grocers, airlines and hotel chains.

Linnea joined PDI in 2018 and brings over 20 years of global experience spanning operations, investing, strategy and corporate development. As the Chief Operating Officer for PDI, Linnea leads a team of more than 1,500 global employees and oversees all product, engineering and professional services operations, innovation and marketing functions. She helps develop and execute organic & acquisition initiatives to drive growth and strategic positioning across global markets.

She currently serves as a Trustee of the Woodruff Arts Center, as a member of the corporate Board of Directors of Aptean, and on the International Board of Directors of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

Brian is a Managing Director and currently leads Accenture’s Global and North America Fuels & Convenience Retail practice. He has spent the last 19 years working with 20+ fuels and convenience retailers around the world. Brian is passionate in helping to drive innovation throughout the business and ultimately setting clients up to capitalize on future trends. His experience stretches across customer experience, mobility, AI / GenAI, analytics, loyalty, retail site systems, payments, M&A, and large-scale complex deployments – spanning all channels of trade including Company Owned & Operated, Branded Wholesalers, Dealer, and Franchisee models.

Brian holds a degree from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington and is a certified Program Management Professional (PMP).

Brian is married to his wife of 15 years, Emily, with two children, Abby (13) and Connor (9) – with his lovely dog Randall. He enjoys playing golf, racquetball, and basketball!

Jo is an energetic, compassionate and customer orientated executive business leader at bp with over 20 years of retail experience in fashion, leisure and energy.

Currently, Jo leads the UK retail business, one of the most strategically important markets for delivering bp’s convenience and mobility strategy. In this role Jo will continue to safely grow the convenience retail business, driving customer centricity and rolling out lower carbon energy options, including bp pulse EV charging. Jo is also leading the pilot of new convenience store concepts and offers, understanding customers’ needs as they evolve through the energy transition.

Jo has a diverse retail career background, working across multiple sectors, displaying high levels of commercial, strategic and operational capability. With a history of managing large teams across multiple countries and disciplines; retail operations, commercial development and strategy, commercial trading and offer development. Jo Is focused on delivering leading customer offers, sustainable business growth and team development.

Jo is an engaging and authentic, emotionally intelligent leader, passionate about people and customer. She promotes the importance of diversity and enabling people to be the best version of themselves in the workplace.

Jo moved to her current role in May 2024.

Bartosz is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s Zurich Office and serves leading retailers, wholesalers, and food service players across Europe and Asia. He brings deep expertise in strategic positioning, commercial and sustainability transformations, private-label development, and fresh improvement across the value chain. Bartosz leads our work on sustainability in the retail industry.

Regan Leggett drives foresight work for NIQ’s Global markets. He has a Postgraduate in Strategic Foresight and has worked as a Foresight consultant with a number of Fortune 500 companies prior to joining NIQ. Regan has over 20 years of experience in Futures and Foresight practices. He is passionate about encouraging forward focused conversations with clients and colleagues. Regan is a member of NIQ's thought leadership council and spends a great deal of time understanding emerging change and the implications to consumers, consumer behavior and the broader business environment. He has lived and worked in the Pacific, Europe, North America and Asia.

NIQ, the world's leading consumer intelligence company, reveals new pathways to growth for retailers and consumer goods manufacturers. NIQ has offices in over 90 countries.

Graduate in Law and Political Sciences from the University of Valencia. He has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE) and a Postgraduate Degree in Public Affairs Management from the same university. He has spent his entire career in public affairs and specifically in European affairs. Currently and since 2015 he is the Director of European Affairs at Mercadona leading its office there. He represents the company at the board of directors of EuroCommerce, the European retail association. He is also a member of the Board at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg and of the Spanish Association of Public Affairs Professionals. At European level he’s also alternate member at the European Economic and Social Committee.

Glovo is a Spanish tech company, focused on everything delivery, and the fastest-growing multi-category player in Europe, Western Asia, and Africa, present in more than 20 countries. With technology at the core of its business, Glovo creates innovative solutions that connect customers, businesses and couriers.

Joana is currently leading the Global Commercial and Account Management strategies of Q-commerce Partners in Glovo, with special focus in Groceries Retailers, after an in-depth experience in the Non-food business.

She is a former Senior auditor at the multinational EY, working mainly in the Real State and Energy sectors, both in Portugal and Angola.

International Master’s Degree in management completed at Nova SBE.

Christophe is a partner based in the Paris office with about 15 years of experience in strategy consulting.

His expertise lies in the retail and consumer goods sector, where he has focused on strategy and revenue growth management through advanced analytics - optimizing top line levers such as pricing, promotions, offer and loyalty.

Christophe holds a Master's Degree in International Business from HEC Paris.

For the last 25 years’ I’ve led Data and Information Services businesses across Europe, Latam, Asia, US for Nielsen and Kantar. Serving recently as Global Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, I grew as local/global Sales director, as an MD and then as a regional CEO.

I am currently leading the product and sales development of World Data Lab, a young venture company funded by 2 ex WorldBank lead economists which creates proprietary forward looking data on consumer spending in more than 180 countries and millions of local Hexagons.

At Kantar, I was the global Chief Strategy Officer of the Worldpanel division that became world #1 through a combination of organic growth and M&A. Part of the team that sold the business to Bain Cap for $ 4bn in 2019.

As a Chief Transformation Officer under Bain Cap ownership, I completed the launch of the world largest measurement panel in the UK, the creation of a Daas platform released in 40 markets (with Circana) and the acquisition of Numerator in the US ($1.4bn).

Zeynep Ton is a professor of the practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Zeynep's research focuses on how organizations can design and manage their operations in a way that satisfies employees, customers, and investors simultaneously. In 2014, Zeynep published her findings in a book, The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits.

After her book was released, company executives started reaching out to Zeynep to understand how to implement the Good Jobs Strategy in their organizations, or to describe how they were already adopting the strategy. Zeynep cofounded the nonprofit Good Jobs Institute to help them transform through assessments, workshops, and longer-term partnerships. NACS partners with the Good Jobs Institute to bring the Good Jobs Strategy to the convenience store industry.

In 2023, Zeynep published her latest book, “The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay & Meaning to Everyone's Work.”

Leonid Volovnik is the Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of 7-Eleven International and is responsible for leading New Market Entry, Legal, Risk Management, and Human Resources functions for the company.

Leonid started his career with 7-Eleven Inc. in 2000 as a Field Consultant in California. He held positions of increased responsibility, including Division Training Manager, Market Manager, Director of Operations Support and Director of Business Transformation. In 2012, Leonid joined the International team as a Director of Global Business Solutions where he led the development and launch of 7-Eleven’s first global IT system. Prior to assuming his current role with 7IN, Leonid provided strategic and functional support to several Area Licensees in Asia, Europe and the Middle East as a Senior Regional Director. He also actively participated in New Market Entry initiatives around the world.

Over the course of Leonid’s tenure with domestic and international operations, Leonid has become the expert in 7-Eleven business model including Store Operations, Demand Chain, Information Technology, etc. Leonid brings a strong track record of developing prosperous long-term relationships with global partners all over the world.

Leonid has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Finance from the San Diego State University. He currently resides in Dallas, Texas and enjoys travel, sports, and volunteering with animal rescue organizations.

In his current role, Mark Wohltmann is responsible for the strategic development of NACS Global, the exclusive, worldwide network, supporting its members’ businesses and their careers within the convenience- and fuel-retailing industry.

Mark has more than 20 years of experience in research & consulting, with a focus on FMCG/CPG and Retail. Prior to joining NACS in late 2016 Mark worked in Strategic Product Development with the Nielsen Company in Europe, developing solutions for clients from the Convenience Retail, HoReCa, eCommerce and Tobacco industry. Prior to this Mark worked with the start-up USP Market Intelligence, setting up Germany's largest convenience retail panel, as well as with Combera (Advantage Smollan), developing Marketing- and sales strategies for FMCG companies, entering the convenience retail sector.

Mark started his career in the advertising industry, focusing on trade marketing and sales advertising in impulse retail channels, working with Dorland in Berlin and with Grey and BBDO in Duesseldorf after studying business administration at the University of Siegen and being trained in advertising consulting.