The Kbsa has announced the theme of its Industry Conference 2025 and return of  broadcast journalist Emma Crosby as host, at the Belfry Hotel in West Midlands.

Taking place on October 1, in the hotel’s new conference facility, the KBB Industry Conference will be themed Design–Lead–Succeed

Emma Crosby presented Channel 5’s flagship news programme for five years and appears on LBC radio, Sky News and CNBC.

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Before anchoring 5 News, Emma co-presented the popular ITV breakfast show GMTV.

She spent several years as presenter with Sky News, covering some of the biggest stories including the terrorist bombings of Glasgow Airport which earned her and the channel a BAFTA for best news coverage.

Emma started her career as a business presenter at CNBC, broadcasting out of London and New York, and later was Sky News’ business presenter during the 2008 banking crisis.

Kbsa chair Richard Hibbert said: “We are delighted to welcome Emma back to the KBB Industry Conference.

“The feedback from last year’s event was extremely positive and we are excited to be working with Emma again.

“We are building on the success of last year with a strong programme designed to provide thought-provoking and relevant content, based around a theme of Design–Lead–Succeed.”

Moving to the bigger Masters Suite, with a capacity of 600 people, Kbsa is seeking to grow its numbers and will once again be welcoming non Kbsa retailers to attend.

Richard Hibbert commented: “We were restricted on growth, last year. but with the move to the new larger facility we can increase the number of attendees.

“The programme for the day will follow last year’s format with extended breaks to allow time for networking and for delegates to visit the business services exhibition and advice surgery.”

The KBB Industry Conference 2025 will include the retailer dinner on the evening before the conference, while the KBSA Designer Awards dinner will follow the conference.