World Retail Congress sold to William Reed publishing and events business

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 4, 2023

The giant retailer event World Retail Congress (WRC), has been sold by Cannes Lions and WGSN owner Ascential to publishing firm William Reed. It has also sold UK trade paper Retail Week as part of the same deal. No purchase price was revealed.

Charles Reed, CEO of the new owner, said: “World Retail Congress has been shaping the future of retail since 2007 and complements our strategy of owning market-leading global brands.”

He added that the magazine is “a very strong, well-established brand, with a combination of reader revenue, excellent events and a marketing solutions business that overall delivers great value to the retail community”.

William Reed has been expanding its events business in recent periods and sees the WRC buy as a way to strengthen its global and local reach in key markets.

The roving event is next scheduled for Barcelona from 25-27 April at the Hotel Arts, with the theme of “Retail Leadership for Extraordinary Times”. 

It includes speakers from Primark, The Body Shop, Kids Against Plastic, Ikea, Mango, Allbirds and Havaianas.