First speakers revealed for Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026

Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026 has announced its first wave of speakers, with industry leaders, innovators, and emerging brands set to share insights across four dedicated stages.

Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026, taking place on 11 & 12 February at Birmingham’s NEC, has revealed its first wave of speakers, with four dedicated stages showcasing industry leaders, innovators, and experts who will examine the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of packaging. Across the Circular Economy, Design & Innovation, Supply Chain, and Discovery Theatre Stages, attendees will hear from over 80 speakers, including senior representatives from global brands, leading designers, regulators, engineers, and emerging start-ups.

The hotly-anticipated conference agenda has once again assembled one of the most influential cross-sections of the global packaging ecosystem, uniting leading brands, manufacturers, retailers, technology providers, and policy voices across its unrivalled two-day programme. Expertise spans global brands such as Rolls-Royce, Nestlé, Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola and Greggs, alongside influential organisations including PackUK, The Sustainable Packaging Coalition, UK DMO, WRAP, RECOUP, BCMPA, The Packaging Federation, McKinsey & Co, and Smithers.

The agenda is designed to ignite curiosity and spark ideas across the packaging industry. It’s a journey through innovation, creativity, and collaboration, where every session highlights the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the future of packaging. Every session is an opportunity to see the next chapter of packaging unfold.
Casey McHugh, Conference & Community Manager – UK & Global at Easyfairs.

Gillian Garside-Wight, Director of Consulting at Aura, gets things underway on the Design & Innovation Stage (Day 1 – 10:45 am) with a session on how brands can shift from reactive compliance to proactive value creation. Dr Samuel West, founder and curator of the Museum of Failure, then brings a powerful message to the packaging industry: innovation depends on failure (12:30 pm). Elsewhere, Paul Horton, Principal – Packaging, Graphics at Diageo, will demonstrate how AI-driven design tools and human creativity are working in harmony to craft luxury beverage experiences. A session dedicated to the London Packaging Week Innovation Awards will also take place from 2-2:45 pm, dedicated to the innovators that are pushing the industry forward – a great one for picking up practical insights on what makes a truly award-winning entry.

Day 2 doesn’t fail to disappoint either, with Chloe Williams, Co-Chapter Lead, WIN: Women in Innovation, joined by Sarah Leech, Head of Packaging & Design – Homecare at Unilever, and Kelly Dawson, Co-Founder & Strategy Partner, Studio Every, to examine empathy-driven design and reveal the commercial opportunities that emerge when we embrace truly inclusive innovation. At 12:15 pm, another not-to-be-missed session from renowned Creative Technologist Jude Pullen will encourage attendees to stay inventive and resilient even when the world says “no.” The Packaging Start-up Awards (1:30 pm) will be another big draw, with innovators from the packaging industry from around the globe showcasing the most cutting-edge solutions across six key categories.

Over on the Supply Chain Stage, the impressive Alexia Williams from Rolls-Royce takes part in a panel titled ‘Lighting the spark: Inspiring the next generation of packaging engineers’ and will be joined by representatives from Sheffield Hallam University, packaging apprentices, and other leading associations dedicated to bridging the skills gap in the UK. Ciaran Little, Vice President of Global Consultancy, Smithers, gives us his expert outlook at a moment of seismic market transformation (Day 1 - 12:30 pm). Josephine Coombe, Chief Commercial Officer Europe at Nulogy, Emma Verkaik, CEO, BCMPA, and Jayne Tarrant, Managing Director at Glowcroft Contract Packing, assess how software continues to empower successful co-packing (1:30 pm), before leading minds from the worlds of robotics and automation, including Mike Wilson, Chief Automation Officer at MTC, and Martin Miller, Head of Engineering Supply Chain at Greggs, Rosie Davies, Managing Director at Reeco Automation Limited, and Dr Seemal Asif, Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Cranfield University, to examine the roles of AI and predictive maintenance in driving the next generation of packaging workflows.

On the second day (10:45 am), Felix Gruenewald and Andrea Gandolfi, Partners at McKinsey, take an in-depth look at how engineering and operations teams can balance compliance, performance, and cost-efficiency, drawing on insights from McKinsey’s sought-after “Sustainable Packaging 2025” research. At 11:30 am, for the first time in Packaging Innovations & Empack history, a hand-picked group of early-stage brands will pitch their products and growth plans to a panel of “Dragons” in the inaugural Pitch the Co-Packers. In another session sure to catch the eye, Biffa’s Innovation Manager, Amy Hooper, Anthony Horsnby from Sherborne Recycling, and Yaseed Chaumoo, Managing Director at Deepnest, powered by GreyParrot AI, come together to discuss advances in AI, which are now making it possible to see what’s really sorted, recycled, or lost.

On the Circular Economy stage, Alice Harlock, Director of Technical and Member Services at OPRL, will help visitors navigate the new EU labelling landscape with a 30-minute address on the opening day. Following that, PackUK take to the stage for their now traditional update to the industry on the policies shaping the future of packaging and packaging waste in the UK, before Paul East, Head of Packaging Recycling and Design, RECOUP, brings together leaders from packaging manufacturing, packer-filling, retail, and major brands (12 pm) to reveal what it really takes to build recyclability into packaging from day one.

The Future Trailblazer Class of 2026 will be honoured on stage at (Day One - 1 pm), James Piper and Robbie Staniforth return to the stomping ground of their first live podcast at 2:45 pm, unpacking the complexities of recycling, and the always hotly-anticipated The Big Debate, stewarded by the indomitable Martin Kersh, Co-CEO of The Packaging Federation, ponders the motion, ‘This house believes that waste management will not improve due to the impact of artificial intelligence’.

On Day 2, there will be a high-level pan-European session on Deposit Return Schemes, and the lessons learned from pioneering countries, with Julian Hunt, Director at the UK DMO and Head of DRS Delivery at Coca-Cola alongside representatives from Europe to understand the practical lessons from countries that have already implemented a DRS scheme. PackUK then returns for a second session, this time convening voices from across the packaging value chain, before a WRAP-led panel session, moderated by Lowelle Bryan, Senior Reuse Specialist at WRAP, looks at why retailers, backed by WRAP and government, have joined forces to explore a nationwide prefilled reusable packaging system.

Register now to secure your free ticket to Packaging Innovations & Empack 2026, the unmissable two-day event on 11 & 12 February at Birmingham’s NEC, where industry leaders, innovators, and brands come together to showcase the latest trends, technologies, and solutions shaping the future of packaging.