Retail guru Mary Portas to speak at 2026 GCA Conference

Businesswoman, broadcaster, author and activist Mary Portas OBE will be speaking about retail at the Garden Centre Association's (GCA) annual conference at Carden Park Chester on Tuesday, January 27 (January 25-28, 2026).

Mary made her name creating change and in 2024 she was awarded an OBE for her services to business, broadcasting and charity in the King's New Year Honours' list.

GCA Chairman Elect and Operations Director of Haskins Garden Centres, Ben Harrison, who is organizing the conference with GCA CEO Peter Burks, explains: "Aged 30, Mary became a board member at Harvey Nichols before founding her own retail consultancy. She has since worked with some of the biggest names in global retail and we're very excited she has agreed to be one of our keynote speakers for our 2026 conference. We're also delighted that our associate member Evergreen Garden Care has very generously agreed to sponsor Mary for our event.

"Her BBC series – Mary Queen of Shops – premiered in 2007 and she has presented on television and radio for the BBC and Channel 4 ever since. In 2009, she partnered with Save The Children to reinvent charity shops. To date, the 26 Mary's Living & Giving shops nationwide have raised more than £30 million for charity. She also conducted a review of the future for high streets for the British government in 2011."

Mary is the author of three books: an autobiography Shop Girl (2015) and two non-fiction books - Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto (2018) which looks at the restructuring how we work for the future; and Rebuild: how to thrive in the new Kindness Economy (2021). The Kindness Economy podcast was #1 on the business chart.

© Garden Centre AssociationMary Portas

Peter Burks, GCA CEO, says: "Our 2026 conference explores the theme of 'Growing a Better Future' with a focus on profitability, sustainability and innovation in the industry, so Mary will fit in brilliantly."

As co-chair of the Better Business Act, Mary heads a coalition of businesses calling for a change in the law to ensure UK companies align their interests with those of wider society and the environment.

In addition to presenting two series of 'Portas: On Style' for BBC Radio 4, Mary is also a podcaster – in her latest series 'Beautiful Misfits' she interviews fellow changemakers taking the imaginative leap to create a better world.

Most recently, Mary took on the government with Kevin McCloud & Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in The Great Climate Fight on CH4.