Welcome to our committee
They come from different backgrounds, including retail, retail banking, consultancy and academic industries as well as a member of staff from each of our sponsors; CACI, Geolytix, Insight Talent Solutions and Visitor Insights. They all volunteer their time and meet throughout the year to help plan our events, source venues and speakers and champion site location, helping us to ensure the SLA offers useful events and benefits and stays up-to-date and relevant. Here they are in no particular order:
 (Co-chair) | Andy has a strong background in retail, leisure and commercial property development specialising in providing business services in consumer behavioural analysis and analytical data systems to clients in these sectors. He holds a great passion for developing people and helping them realise their full potential in both their personal and work lives. Andy loves the outdoors, planning expeditions, kayaking, sailing, mountaineering and skiing, or just sleeping out local to home under the stars, known as bivvying! Andy is married, with three grown up children and enjoys an active life with his family. Andy Thompson, Lead Coach, Red Tiger Coaching. Contact Andy |
 (Co-chair) | Steve has worked in analytics for over 25 years – with various senior roles in consulting and client side. His real passion is to help build successful teams that evolve their capability (skills, software and data) in order to meet the ever–changing requirements of analysis and insight. Steve has two young children, supports Liverpool FC and enjoys long walks with his trusty working cocker spaniel. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for charity in Sept 2022 and plans to publish his first book in Sept 2023. Steve Halsall, Founding Director, Coaching and Consulting Lead, Red Tiger Consulting. Contact Steve |
 | Jonathan Reynolds is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading academics in this field. He took over as Chairman in 2014 from Peter Sleight who retired from the position and devoted nine years to his chairmanship. His hard work, connections and tireless dedication to the group keeps it fresh, current and forward thinking. Jonathan Reynolds, Deputy Dean & Associate Professor in Retail Marketing at Oxford University’s Said Business School and Academic Director, Oxford Institute of Retail Management. Saïd Business School. Contact Jonathan |
 (SPONSORS) | Matt has an MSc in GIS, 5 years industry side at Sainsbury’s, 7 years Consultancy side in Retail Strategy and Analysis at Accenture. Now at CACI, Associate Partner in Location Intelligence helping drive and innovate solutions across sectors and markets, driving value for our clients. My sweet spot has always been linking broader strategic objectives with deep analytical modelling and insight. Matt Pratt, Geospatial Lead & SME – Associate Partner, CACI. Contact Matt |
 | Thomas is a Location Planning Consultant at CBRE in London, specialising in developing strategic location data insights for Occupier, Landlord, and Investor clients across a range of sectors and geographies, supporting actions such as new market entry, portfolio expansion, performance modelling, and asset-level insights. He holds an MSc in Infrastructure Planning, Appraisal & Development from University College London (UCL) Thomas Yanovski, Location Strategy Consultant, CBRE. Contact Thomas |
 | Antony is a business analytics specialist and professional strategist with 15 years’ experience. Having worked on transformation programmes directly within financial service, retail and leisure companies, his strengths balance applied spatial data science, business acumen and practical business analytics to support investment decisions; covering location planning and estate strategy, operational change, customer experience, service delivery and multi-channel alignment. An advocate for spatial analytics, aiming to promote understanding and active application, to drive positive real World outcomes. Antony Hunt , Data Engineering, Customer Channels, Strategy & Innovation at Lloyds Banking Group. Contact Antony |
 | Kate has 23 years’ experience in location planning, GIS and Network Strategy planning. She has worked within the retail banking, real estate and leisure industries and her strengths include creating and project managing an end-to-end process to create a right size and format store portfolio that continually evolves and meets the needs of both customers and business alike. Kate joined the SLA during her time at TSB to initially provide insight from a service industry perspective. She enjoys being part of a team with years of experience promoting the different aspects of location analysis and its importance within wider industry. Kate Broad, National Location Planning Manager, Coles, Australia. Contact Kate |
 | Luke Burns has taught at Leeds University as a professor in GIS and Human Geography for over 11 years. He joined the SLA to help promote Location Planning to students and universities and helps to organise, promote and judge the SLA Student Awards. Luke Burns, Associate Professor in Quantitative Human Geography, University of Leeds Contact Luke |
 (SPONSORS) | Asli is a Client Solutions Developer at Geolytix, where she configures MAPP to meet bespoke client requirements. She studied Computer Science at the University of Greenwich, where she was awarded the Computing and Mathematical Sciences Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement. Her final year project on geospatial mapping and urban planning with machine learning was published at the IET Conference and presented at FOSS4G. She was also shortlisted for Graduate of the Year / Apprentice of the Year – Tech and Consulting at the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2025. She also won the SLA Student Awards in 2024. Asli is passionate about applying data science and geospatial analytics to real-world challenges, helping organisations make better, evidence-based decisions. Asli Doga Kanturk, Customer Solutions Developer, Geolytix. Contact Asli |
 | Ruth has worked as the marketing and administrative support for the SLA since its inception, when she was Marketing Manager at GeoBusiness Solutions. She now works as a Teaching Assistant at Amersham School, specialising in Business Studies and English at secondary school level. She is the author of two books, Anaphylaxis: The essential guide and The Shape of Skin – eczema poems. She also advocates and blogs about allergies and eczema. Ruth has so far run over 150 ParkRuns, has almost completed the Alphabet challenge and is currently trying to write another book… Ruth Holroyd, Membership and Event Coordinator, The SLA. Contact Ruth |
 | Andy has worked in Location Planning for over 30 years now starting with paper OS maps and a length of string to hand build catchments. Spending almost 20 years at Argos he formed a Location Planning team that delivered over 500 new stores covering the UK & Ireland as well as managing the customer insight and test and learn functions. More recent experience at EE/BT reminded him just how crucial spatial analysis is beyond retail planning with projects including COVID analysis and mobile network coverage. 2023 saw him return full time to Location Planning working for TUI. He has a passion to both encourage the next generation of spatial analysts, but also to increase the reach of the SLA. Andy Stringer, Location Planner, TUI. Contact Andy |
 | Saisruthi is a Data Engineer at RMSI, where she works with spatial and address data to support location intelligence and geospatial analysis projects. Her work focuses on organising and analysing data to help create insights that support better planning and decision-making. She graduated with a First-Class degree in Computer Science from the University of Greenwich and has a strong interest in data analytics and spatial data. Saisruthi is passionate about applying data to real-world challenges and supporting the use of location intelligence across different industries. Saisruthi Catari Dinesh, Data Engineer, RMSI Contact Saisruthi |
 (SPONSORS) | Ryan has worked in location planning for the past eight years, supporting retailers, property owners, and investors in developing and implementing global expansion and asset management strategies. At Visitor Insights, and previously BT Activity Intelligence, he specialises in leveraging mobility data to drive business growth and enable data-led decision-making. Ryan Chettle, Senior Sales Manager, Visitor Insights Ltd. Contact Ryan |
 | I have over 30 years of experience in large scale location and technology transformation programmes as well as producing strategies that underpin these programmes. I am a retailer at heart from a young age, owning and operating convenience stores in Southern England. I diversified into property investments and investing in startups. My personal passions include supporting the mighty Reds, mountaineering and running and volunteering in the Parkrun movement. Ketul Patel, Strategic Planning Specialist, Post Office Ltd Contact Ketul |
 | Rachel is a location strategy professional with experience across retail, hospitality, leisure, and franchise development. She currently leads the global franchise market planning team at Pizza Hut, whilst also defining location strategy and insights for Pizza Hut Europe, supporting market planning across Europe and helping franchise partners make informed decisions around expansion and optimisation. Before joining Pizza Hut, Rachel worked across both consultancy and in-house roles at CACI Ltd, GEOLYTIX, and Tesco. Throughout her career, she has worked on a wide range of projects covering location analytics, forecasting, GIS analysis, and property network strategy across UK and international markets. Rachel is passionate about the role location intelligence can play in supporting better business decisions and is excited to contribute to the work of the Society of Location Analysis committee while continuing to support and connect with others across the industry. Rachel Knell, Global Franchise Markets Market Planning Lead, Pizza Hut Contact Rachel |
 | Ben has 20+ years’ experience – both client and consultancy – at market leading, retail-aligned businesses, across in-town and out-of-town locations. He is an expert in the retail geographical landscape, encompassing customer experience as well as the social and physical push and pull factors that attract consumers to both brand and location. His skills include Architect of store portfolio management strategies inclusive of acquisitions, optimisation and closure programmes. In his current role he works as a strategic leader for significant portfolio programmes and is a primary analytical producer of essential data and its result. Ben Terry, Retail Development, Blue Cross Contact Ben |
 | Sebastian works on spacetime reasoning for the agentic economy. He founded FourthSpace Labs to engineer it into production, with first applications in retail and then to healthcare access for underserved communities. A proprietary 4D spacetime engine runs spatial analytics at a fraction of the compute cost, with significant improvements to data lineage. As a 2nd-time founder, Sebastian also supports early-stage founders through the WMG venture studio and the RISE Hub coalition in Romania, contributing to policy reform for innovation. The SLA matters at this moment because geopolitical pressure and rising AI risks are reshaping how data is treated, moved, and trusted. His contribution will be to raise awareness of the importance of spatial data within that wider conversation, and to increase adoption of more responsible and secure practices across the field. Sebastian Boncu, Founder, FourthSpace Labs Contact Sebastien |
If you are interested in helping as a volunteer on the SLA committee, please email info@thesla.org.