London Area, United Kingdom
Helping organisations unlock their next stage of growth by building stronger brands, stronger organisations and enduring competitive advantage. Across my career as a board-level growth leader, I've learned that strong brands create sustained competitive advantage. They drive consumer preference, support pricing power, unlock innovation, attract talent and create the momentum for long-term growth. My career experience is relatively unusual, combining the brand-building discipline and international commercial grounding of Unilever and Diageo with executive leadership roles inside entrepreneurial, founder-led businesses such as Fever-Tree and The Mark Anthony Group. Most recently, I stepped into the role of Sales & Marketing Director at Charlie Bigham's and became an Independent Non-Executive Director for Australian premium soft drinks business, Bundaberg Brewed Drinks. Across multinationals, challenger brands and entrepreneurial environments, one lesson has remained constant: environments change, but the fundamentals of growth don't. Deep consumer understanding, distinctive brands, clear strategy, exceptional teams and disciplined execution remain the foundations of sustainable growth. I'm at my best simplifying complexity, identifying what really drives consumer choice and focusing organisations on the few things most likely to unlock growth. I particularly enjoy environments where brand, innovation, culture and commercial performance are tightly connected, and where ambition, pace and high standards are part of the culture. Colleagues would typically describe me as low ego, commercially focused and collaborative. I value clarity, momentum and creating environments where talented people can do ambitious work. Alongside executive leadership roles, I also enjoy Non-Executive Director and advisory opportunities where experience in consumer growth, organisational leadership and brand strategy can contribute at board level and support long-term value creation.
The UK’s No.1 premium prepared-meals brand. Founder-owned and fast-growing. Purpose of interim appointment is to support the CEO in shaping the next phase of growth. [P&L Responsibility: £150m] Results: ~Secured board approval for a new growth investment strategy through a comprehensive econometric review. ~Launched a new consumer recruitment platform, exceeding targets and unlocking incremental distribution. ~Developed a new brand growth platform to support the next phase of expansion.
A family-owned, Australian business with strong domestic and international markets. Known for its brewed, non-alcoholic, premium beverages; most famously its Ginger Beer. Appointed to support the Board and executive team on growth strategy, brand development and international expansion.
Recruited to establish and lead a new global functional beverages division, building the team, operating model and growth strategy across US, Europe and LATAM.. [P&L Responsibility: £50m (Year 1)] ~ Built a new global team and operating hub from scratch, embedding a high-performance culture. ~ Repositioned Más+ around a distinctive cognitive-performance proposition, creating a stronger platform for international scale. ~ Introduced AI-enabled marketing systems and a social-first operating model. ~ Successfully launched in the UK & Ireland, exceeding launch KPIs within 90 days.
Senior commercial leader on the Global Operating Executive Board, accountable for global brand strategy, marketing, innovation, and long-term growth. [P&L Responsibility: £370m] ~ Doubled global revenue (£200m → £370m) while transforming the business from a UK-centric tonic brand into a more diversified international drinks company. ~ Working closely with the local teams, developed and executed the growth strategy that accelerated expansion across North America, Europe and Australia, delivering significant market-share gains. ~ Created multiple new growth platforms, including Adult Soft Drinks, Fever-Tree Airport Bars and Draught Fever-Tree, expanding category reach, occasions and channels. ~ Demonstrated the commercial returns of scaled paid media, securing a doubling of investment across the UK and US businesses.
Led Guinness’ rejuvenation across UK & European markets, building a values-driven culture focused on collaboration, quality, and innovation. [P&L Responsibility: £700m] ~ Led the turnaround of Guinness in the UK, delivering its strongest growth in two decades (+8% p.a) ~ Transformed organisational effectiveness, moving engagement scores from lowest to highest in Diageo Europe. ~ Identified non-alcohol as a major future growth platform, securing investment that led to Guinness 0.0. ~ Secured & digitally leveraged title sponsorship of the Six Nations recruiting a new generation of drinkers ~ Re-established Guinness’ reputation for highly effective brand communications.
Senior Operating-Board role in one of Diageo's key global markets. Between 2014-2017, Diageo Mexico was consistently Diageo PLC’s No.1 performing market in the world. [P&L Responsibility: £300m] ~ Developed and executed the 5-year strategy doubling the business and taking value share from 18% → 28% (market position from #2 → #1). ~ Executive sponsor for culture: Great Places to Work #19 → #1 for two consecutive years. ~ Built innovation into a significant growth engine, increasing revenues from £20m to £50m.
This role heads up both the strategy and performance delivery of a $1 billion (turnover) business unit that spanned over 10 different scotch whisky brands, across 20 markets. The task for this role was to create a new world for Diageo LATAM Whiskies in which there was: greater cross-market collaboration & cohesion · Delivered +17% top-line and +20% bottom-line growth across a $1bn portfolio. · Improved non-working spend, pricing and profitability through tighter collaboration with markets.