Ireland
CEO / Commercial Director / General Manager with thirty years FMCG experience. Educated to Masters Level, with BSC Hons Degree in Communication, Advertising & Marketing plus an MBA. Career spans commercial and marketing experience in fast moving consumer goods followed by General Management within a multi-cultural international environment and then a business transformation role within a small entrepreneurial organisation. Exceptional level of commercial acumen and performance delivery of significant P&L. Team leadership of 25+ people and a proven record in delivering talent pipeline and progression. A highly motivated individual with huge energy to deliver personal and professional goals. Excellent interpersonal skills used to build mutually beneficial relations at most senior level.
- Business Transformation and success through creation of a modern, forward thinking, strategically focused FMCG organisation, building brands in an exciting and competitive category - Experienced in new business set up including organisational re-structure, gaining new investors, managing board room relationships and building a team that will succeed and deliver results - Development and implementation of the global commercial, marketing and innovation plan that successfully executes the company’s strategic plan and delivers on the vision for the business - Building capability of the sales and marketing team to ensure it can deliver the global commercial sales and marketing plans in line with the company’s business strategy. - Inspiring and motivating distribution partners to excel on Walsh Whiskey Distillery brands and to prioritise them within their respective portfolios; maximising the performance of our brands - Managing the P&L and profit delivery with a focus on pricing, margins; A&P spend plus company overheads; anticipating and managing budgetary challenges to maximise return.
- Developing Commercial Strategy - Building Annual Business Plan - Managing Performance Delivery - Driving Sales and Market Share - Recruiting and Inspiring High Performance Teams - Ensuring Exceptional Top to Top Customer Relations
Responsible for delivering strategic objectives and performance ambitions for Diageo Middle East business unit with well over 100m GBP turnover. This is a multi channel role - Travel Retail, Airlines, Domestic and Trading Channel. Markets are both mature and emerging in a highly sensitive region within a multi-cultural, multi-national and multi-currency scope. I recruit and develop the skills of a cross functional team of 22 direct reports who deliver the strategy to execution. I pride myself in creating a sense of purpose, openness and shared vision within the team in order to maximise performance and career progression. I have exceptional top to top relationships with key customers and distributors in the region and represent Diageo in all Industry forums across Middle East Region.
Led the commercial relationship with customers and distributors in the Gulf to achieve Annual Operating Plan and YOY Growth across all lines of P&L. Focused on beating the competition and increasing market share in both Travel Retail and Domestic Channel by creating customer plans and activation calendars to target key shoppers. Resulted in being voted Number 1 in alcohol category Marketing and Promotions by biggest customer in the region. Assessed Distributor performance against key metrics set through quarterly and annual business reviews. Brand share shows year on year increase in Dubai On Trade with consistent delivery of Net Sales Value targets in Unites Arab Emirates; Bahrain, Oman and Qatar.
Managed the performance of the business unit as chair of Business Performance Management meetings which included monthly in-depth analysis of customer P&L’s to ensure Europe always delivered annual plan. Led development & implementation of Europe Commercial Strategy including management of commercial scorecard to ensure strategic initiatives delivered. Managing the regional pricing strategy by moving customers from unconditional to conditional investment via delivery of Trade Terms ensuring significant saving on Trade Spend. Managed the commercial capability agenda by creation and delivery of a plan to enhance the sales and commercial capability of the commercial team in Europe.