Experience

Paragon Brands

• United Kingdom
• Wholesale Alcoholic Beverages
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Sales Director

  • Oct 2018 - Present

  Paragon Brands is a distributor of premium drinks brands from around the world. We work with 8 independent brand owners who have a range of beer, spirit and sparkling wine brands. These brands compete in most BWS categories, including Vodka, Gin, Rum, Brandy, Cognac, Whiskey, Liqueurs, Beer, Cider and Prosecco. We are their appointed distributor in the UK territory and have agreed joint business plans and targets with each brand owner. Our portfolio is varied, and ranges from Maison Villevert, the owners of G'Vine (a global top 20 super premium gin), to the 2nd largest Vodka manufacturer in the world. Personally responsible for the planning, creation and delivery of the commercial UK sales strategy for all brands within the Paragon portfolio. I have been part of the journey of driving the Paragon sales line from a 2018 start-up, to a £17m business in less than 5 years. This has been done by both growth and brand acquisition, using our commercial success to attract brands into the Paragon portfolio. I am responsible for the commercial delivery of all agreed volume and margin for brands within the Paragon portfolio and I manage the commercial relationship with our key brand owners, including the agreeing of annual plans, and manage the spend within these plans, which is in excess of £1m I work with key stakeholders from multiple businesses to deliver mutually agreed targets, and work cross functionally across sales, supply chain, marketing and finance. Directly manage 3 sales people, with 2 additional sales executives in the On Trade down the chain. Secured over 50 multi channel listings in major off trade retailers, including Sainsbury's, Morrison's, Coop and Booths, and manage the UK's leading RTM wholesalers, including Bestway Group and UNITAS. Show less



Love Lane Brewing

• United Kingdom
• Food and Beverage Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Sales Director

  • Oct 2016 - Sep 2018

  Initially appointed initially as a consultant on a 6 month contract, before accepting a full-time role as Sales Director, I was part of the senior team for a privately £5m funded brewery and distillery start-up. My role was to build the sales and commercial strategy ahead of our market launch in January 2018, and then execute this strategy in line with KPIs and shareholder expectations. After the 6 month contract I moved into the business on a full-time basis Secured listings in major local customers to support initial growth plan: 1. Delivered planned H1 2018 budget numbers of £500k turnover from standing start 2. Worked closely with a senior board made up of experienced industry leaders to deliver a sales strategy in line with the high expectations of the investors 3. Recruited and managed a sales and operations teams of 6 who doubled our business every quarter Show less



CoeBris Consulting

• Business Consultant

  • May 2016 - May 2017

  After my experience at Halewood I decided to move into consulting, and set up my own consultancy with a view to using my experience to help advise and support businesses. I had 2 initial contracts: 1. Quintessential Brands - Initial 6 month contract, with further 6 month extension. Quintessential had taken back distribution of their brands from a 3rd party distributor, and as a result they needed support setting up their business within the wholesale channel. My role was to onboard Booker, Bestway and the key UNITAS members into the Quintessential business. I successfully onboarded over 10 customers into the Quintessential business, and gained traction with Booker at a senior level with a view to securing their significant OL spirits business. I recruited and managed 1 direct report during this 12 month period. 2. Love Lane Brewery & Distillery - 6 months. Initially supported Love Lane with the development of their beer and gin brands. After consulting for 6 months I was offered a full-time role as Sales Director. My initial remit was to create the overall sales and execution strategy for business. This involved all areas of pricing, and the full roll out of the Love Lane brand portfolio into the market. This involved both direct supply, but also the foundation of a RTM strategy. We successfully brought on all key On Trade wholesalers, as well as securing listings within the Coop group. Show less



Halewood Wines & Spirits

• United Kingdom
• Beverage Manufacturing
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Head of Retail

  • Apr 2015 - May 2016

  KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:1. Creating and managing the strategy and team that turned around a -15% volume performance v previous year a +8% performance, within the traditional grocery mults of Tesco, Sainsbury's, ASDA, Morrison's, delivering an incremental 371,000 x 9L cases2. Managed a team of 6, with 2 x SNAM's, 2 x NAM's and 2 x NAE's 3. Personally delivered a step change in the Co-op relationship by achieving NPD listing that delivered £100k of NSV in 4 weeks, with an MAT profit increase of 102%4. Negotiated a 33% decrease in funding with Morrison’s, whilst retaining key listings and maintaining ongoing business relationshipsDETAILS:Part of the sales leadership team with overall responsibility for managing a team of 5 SNAMs / NAMs / NAEs who manage the major multiple accounts, Tesco, ASDA, JS, Morrison’s, Waitrose & Coop.Ownership of delivering the commercial strategy for customer who deliver over 60% of total UK profit to UK business with:• Retail sales value of over £150m• Control of A&P budget in excess of £20mOversee and sign off all negotiations with retailers and tasked with growing our contact strategy across all these major retailers.Work with marketing teams to deliver compelling propositions for brand activation and NPD to help grow the Halewood share across the retail channelResponsible for devising and then delivering the overall retail channel strategy and creating an environment for the team to deliver over and above required targets. Report weekly performance internally versus the task and take corrective short / medium / long terms actions if required. Show less

• Country Controller - Asia & Australasia

  • Nov 2013 - Apr 2015

  KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:1. Increased business with Woolworths, Australia, by 275%, from a RSV of £3.6m to £13.5m in 22 months2. Increased profit to the business by 317%, from £335k to £1.4m3. Expanded into new markets, including Malaysia, China & The PhilippinesDETAILS:A new role in the Halewood business, I am charged with establishing and /or developing Halewood International presence in the growth markets of Asia and AustralasiaI am also responsible for instigating and managing our relationships and business with the global ASDA Walmart (IPL) and Tesco teamsThe role varies from working with established customers, to seeking out and negotiating with new customers within our specifically targeted marketsOur distributors vary from Woolworths in Australia (the world's 19th biggest retailer) to Heineken in New Zealand, to a small start up craft beer start up in Singapore. As a result my role varies from simply establishing trading and supply terms to negotiating 5 year exclusive distribution agreements that include an agreed £1m+ A&P spend The role requires me to support these customers in a marketing / brand marketing capacity to ensure they execute an agreed annual marketing plan in line with brand and contractual stipulationsThe role also focuses on launching NPD in various markets, and also includes discussions with specific distributors about licensing / production agreements with certain of our brandsExisting customers – Work with our various distributors in each country to establish a plan to deliver brand awareness through an annual plan that focuses on distribution, visibility & consumer interactionNew customers – Find the right distributors in each market for each of our products to help us gain distribution and market share in each of these countries Show less

• Category Controller - UK Grocery & International

  • Apr 2013 - Nov 2013

  A new role in the Halewood business, I am charged with developing our internal category expertise and presence in our UK grocery customers whilst also supporting and developing our international department with Halewood's international ambitions.I am also charged with commercialising all Halewood NPD for all channels and analysing pricing and promotional activity within UK grocery to deliver improved results and insights both internally and externally Within the UK1. Deliver clear, distinct and compelling commercial propositions for both our brands and our NPD2. Analyse and evaluate activity within the grocery channel to deliver improved value to both Halewood and our customers3. Monthly Communication of relevant marketing and market updates for the team.4. Effective execution and distribution of NPD 5. Merging the Wine and Soft Drinks portfolio into the team6. Working with our insight team to present all relevant information from our data partners (Kantar, Nielsen etc) and turn it into compelling sales storiesInternational1. Support the team with a comprehensive and complete presentations for use across the targetted world markets.2. Work directly with distributors in specific markets to deliver the NPD agenda 3. Manage the relationship with Halewood's internal purchasing, planning and production teams to ensure the OTIF production of products in line with different countries / customers lead times and requests. Show less

• Head of Customer Marketing

  • Jun 2011 - Apr 2013

  - To lead and inform our communication with customers in our domestic market and supports the Export and International Development channel with best practice created for the domestic market.- To act as a bridge between sales and marketing and sales and supply / operations. Customer Marketing is essential in aligning below and above the line activity, improving return on our marketing investment and improving the efficiencies of the sales teams by providing them with the tools to maximise their time influencing and selling to customers. - Develop the capabilities of the sales teams to employ multiple sales levers in commercial propositions to customers. -To develop and maintain channel / customer / fascia distribution target list for both existing brands and new product development.-To develop powerful visibility plans and commercial propositions to present to customers -To develop key brand channel promotional plans, aligning activity with above the line marketing spend and evaluating activity year on year. -To create consistent commercial propositions incorporating customer, shopper and drinker insight to assist the sales teams in proposal presentation.- To evaluate activity and new product launch effectiveness to enable us to grow our capability time after time. -To ensure that the sales teams are given the tools to present new product or sku launches to customers in a manner most likely to enable successful sell-in-To develop strong relationships with key stakeholders within the Sales team, marketing and innovation to ensure that customer, shopper and drinker insight are incorporated into commercial propositions.-To work with supply and demand planning colleagues to ensure that brand, NPD and promotional plans activated within the sales channel are transparent.- Management and optimisation of relevant budgets.- Management and development of direct reports Show less

• Senior National Account Manager

  • Jan 2011 - Jun 2011

  Employed as a National Account Manager for Halewood International I was responsible for developing and implementing our annual Joint Business Plans with Asda, Sainsburys & Waitrose.Responsible for the managing and negotiating of all elements of these annual Joint Business Plans. With this comes the constant reporting and improving of our performance with these customers, and looking to capitalise on all potential areas of growth.I have to work very closely with all areas of our business including finance, production, customer and brand marketing, innovation and product development. Show less

• National Account Manager

  • Oct 2009 - Dec 2010

  Employed as a National Account Manager for Halewood International I was responsible for developing and implementing our annual Joint Business Plans with Asda & Sainsburys.Responsible for the managing and negotiating of all elements of these annual Joint Business Plans. With this comes the constant reporting and improving of our performance with these customers, and looking to capitalise on all potential areas of growth.I have to work very closely with all areas of our business including finance, production, customer and brand marketing, innovation and product development. Show less


GSK
• United Kingdom
• Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee
• Business Development Manager

  • Oct 2008 - Oct 2009

Heineken UK
• National Account Manager

  • Apr 2005 - Sep 2008

Anheuser-Busch
• United States
• Food and Beverage Services
• 700 & Above Employee
• Territory Sales Manager

  • 2001 - 2005