UK Retail Shake-Up: Ocado, Lidl, M&S Safety & Brand Collabs and a big thank you to COACH UK

UK Retail Shake-Up: Ocado, Lidl, M&S Safety & Brand Collabs and a big thank you to COACH UK

From The Retail Podcast by The Retail Podcast

May 29, 2026 · 13 min

About this episode

Alex and Simone discuss major retail developments in the UK and Europe, including Ocado's tech partnership and Lidl's market position.

This week on Five Things Friday UK , Alex and Simone unpack the biggest retail stories shaping the UK and European market. The episode covers Ocado’s major tech partnership , Lidl overtaking Morrisons , and why the UK grocery market continues to be watched globally as a model for digital and physical retail. Alex also shares reflections from recent retail visits across Europe, including the Coach pop-up at Selfridges and the House of Rituals in Amsterdam . Simone brings two key stories: M&S’s staff safety initiative with WalkSafe , and the unexpected but strategic collaboration between Little Greene and Hunter . The conversation also explores retail theft, frontline worker protection, experiential retail, lifestyle-led collaborations, and the rise of IP licensing in fashion and retail. Featuring discussion around Coach, Selfridges, Ocado, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, WalkSafe, JD Sports, Waitrose, Tesco, Rituals, Little Greene, Hunter, Marc Jacobs and LVMH . In this episode: Ocado’s role as a grocery technology platform Lidl overtaking Morrisons in UK grocery M&S, WalkSafe and staff safety Retail theft and frontline worker protection Rituals and the future of experiential…

People in this episode

Hosts: Alex, Simone

Topics covered

  • UK retail market
  • grocery technology
  • staff safety initiatives
  • retail theft
  • experiential retail
  • brand collaborations
  • IP licensing

Keywords

  • Ocado
  • Lidl
  • M&S
  • retail theft
  • experiential retail
  • brand collaborations
  • WalkSafe
  • Little Greene
  • Hunter
  • IP licensing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ocado, Lidl, M&S, WalkSafe, Little Greene, Hunter, Coach, Selfridges, Rituals, JD Sports

Places: UK, Europe, Amsterdam

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