Experience

Aethr Associates

• United Kingdom
• Business Consulting and Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Co-Founder

  • Jan 2023 - Present

  Co-founding Aethr was driven by my passion for elevating businesses to meet higher ESG standards. Our mission at Aethr is to empower organisations to adopt sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact while ensuring profitability. As strategic partners, we guide businesses in integrating sustainability into their operations, supply chains, and stakeholder engagement. Our comprehensive approach focuses on addressing crucial ESG areas, including carbon footprint reduction, resource efficiency, waste management, renewable energy adoption, social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and ethical governance. Show less



University of Chichester

• United Kingdom
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Non Executive Director

  • Dec 2021 - Present



The Summer Berry Company

• United Kingdom
• Food Production
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief Financial Officer

  • Feb 2021 - Jul 2022

  CFO responsible for Finance, IT and Human Resources. TSBCo is an international berry producer with farms in the UK and Portugal, servicing almost all major retailers in the UK and several on the continent. The Company was bought from private ownership by ADM Capital (PE) in late 2019. CFO responsible for Finance, IT and Human Resources. TSBCo is an international berry producer with farms in the UK and Portugal, servicing almost all major retailers in the UK and several on the continent. The Company was bought from private ownership by ADM Capital (PE) in late 2019.



Natures Way Foods

• United Kingdom
• Food Production
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Chief Financial Officer

  • Apr 2014 - Oct 2020

  CFO for £200m privately owned, own label supplier to the multiple retail trade (Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl) and Foodservice (McDonalds, BK, Pret, Nando’s, Greencore etc). The Company sells c.270m units/yr across a variety of fresh food categories e.g. bagged salads, coleslaw and Food to Go, from 4 manufacturing plants. • CFO & Director of NWF Ltd – member of Management and Ownership Board’s. • Chairman of Sun Salads Ltd – 100% owned Watercress Company based in the UK & Spain • Responsibility for Finance & IT (c.40 FTE team). Full spectrum of CFO duties – business partnership, forecasting and budgeting, transactional finance, banking relationships, raising debt, tax planning, audit, legal and insurance Major achievements: • 6 year turnover organic growth +65% - £121m (2013/14) to £200m (2019/20) and EBITDA from £14.5m to peak of £20m+. • Securing rapid growth in deflationary markets by winning market share, category expansion (e.g. entry into Food to Go, Dressed Salads and Coleslaw & Potato Salads) and winning new customers e.g. Sainsbury, Aldi, Burger King and Subway • Secured Board approval (and bank debt) for a 4th manufacturing facility, opened Q1 2017 • Secured significant bank & CBIL debt in August 2020 to invest in capacity expansion • Implementing a £3m+ company-wide ERP system. • Through data marts and dashboard software (Tableau) a suite of reports and drill down functionality were developed to enable all levels of management to access vital KPIs and B.I. in a timely and accurate fashion. • The finance function has been strengthened and restructured to fit a fast growing and agile company. Emphasis has been placed on partnership and decision support, constantly challenging decision makers to be data driven. Show less



DOVE SPA

• United Kingdom
• Travel Arrangements
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Finance Director Spa & Salon International Ltd

  • Feb 2007 - Oct 2013

  Group FD for multinational beauty spa business (private equity backed) with 50 spa’s across the UK (26), Spain (20) and Canada (4). • Director of SSI Ltd, membership of the Exec and Non Exec Boards • Lead both local country based finance teams and Group FC in UK (in total 14 FTEs) • Full spectrum of financial and risk management duties – fund raising, banking, tax, audit, legal, payroll, insurance, financial and management accounting, planning and forecasting. • Leadership role in Group Information Technology, secretarial resources and legal contract review and creation Major achievements: • Management and execution of four funding rounds • Opening & controlling new greenfield businesses in Canada and Mexico • Creation of financial and non-financial reporting systems for Exec. and Non Exec. Boards • Developed consistent financial modeling for geographical expansion • Implementation and standardisation of UK POS IT system (iSalon) • Creation of two transactional websites • Embedded Group wide CoA, and implement Dynamics Accounting system in Canada • Insourcing of UK payroll (220 employees) • Setting up of 4 person UK call centre for bookings / customer service monitoring etc. • Development / negotiation to build 2 new greenfield sites in UK • Disposal / sale of c.12 tail locations (10 in UK) • Led the UK business for 6 months of 2011 while MD was on extended leave of absence Show less



Unilever

• United Kingdom
• Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• Finance Director - Portugal HPC

  • 2003 - 2007

  The leading HPC Company in Portugal, this business was a 60/40 JV with a local partner (Jeronimo Martins). Board member with full P&L responsibility (Gross Sales Value c.€200m) and financial responsibility for a local manufacturing unit with local and export production. Significant focus on the restructuring of financial resources ‘for the future’ – demarcating transactional roles from business partnership with the Sales, Marketing and Supply Chain functions. Development and implementation of leading edge decision support and planning / forecasting tools was key to developing roles from ‘management accountant’ to business partner. Other key tasks included the provision of a long term plan (2006-2010) which was the basis for a company used to restructure the entire Portuguese JV (from three distinct JV structures into a single combined agreement). As part of the HPC Company Board, I was also involved in restructuring the total Portuguese business (Foods, Ice cream and H&PC) to create a single operating company structure in Q4 2006. Show less

• PA to CEO, Unilever plc

  • 2001 - 2003

  A wide reaching brief, mirroring the CEO’s role and focus, both internal (Board, Divisional, Regional and Operating Company levels) and external (IR, PR, Media, NGO’s, Government, Trade and Industry organisations and forums etc.). This involved significant liaison with a huge variety of contacts and expectation / objective setting. A further key role was the preparation of speeches and presentations that the CEO made internally and externally. For six months in the latter part of 2003, undertook a secondment into Corporate finance undertaking work on the transition to International Accounting Standards and SARBOX implementation, and the development of Unilever’s 2010 Corporate Strategy. Show less

• New Venture Leader - Fresh @ 5

  • 2000 - 2001

  Won an internal Unilever ‘New Ventures’ Competition (prize €25,000). Spent 3 months creating a detailed business plan to take the concept to market. Presented plans to European Foods Leadership and got support and resources (€1.5m) to take concept to market in Sept. 2001. The project accessed a new channel for Unilever's European Foodservice business, core components being a transactional web site and full partnership with a Contract Caterer. Test (in Enron Europe HQ, London) successful, but due to focus on short-term delivery of growth agenda in 2002 and the incorporation of the Bestfoods acquisition, further investment from European management could not be committed. Team disbanded Oct. 2001. Show less

• Senior Strategy Analyst, Food Strategy Development Group

  • 1997 - 2000

  Deputy role in this corporate, strategic unit, which identifies and secures profitable growth opportunities (organic or through acquisition), particularly focused in D&E markets. Applying specialist strategic/financial skills, projects were undertaken in portfolio balance, geographical expansion planning, corporate competency assessment, strategic acquisition analysis, competitor benchmarking and profiling, and the development and implementation of strategic toolkits for Unilever operating units. Projects personally undertaken:• Acquisition / Competitor Reviews: Leadership of in-depth ‘strategic fit’ reviews, including two potential £15b+ foods acquisition candidates. Bestfoods, accepted by the Unilever Board and purchased in Sept. 2000. • Global Functional (neutraceutical) Foods Opportunity Assessment: Multi-functional team of 10 international managers formed to assess opportunities in fast developing market. • Culinary Category – Global Strategic Review: Methodology and facilitation for bottom up strategic review. • South East Asia – New Foods Categories: Methodology and facilitation of team tasked with identifying new foods categories. Strategic reviews of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Philippines.• North American Foodservice Strategic Review: Methodology and facilitation of a US/Canadian review whose aims were to optimise internal structures for growth. Show less

• Various

  • 1990 - 1997

  Various management accounting, logistics and manufacturing accounting roles in Port Sunlight (Wirral), Warrington and Kingston Upon Thames