Five stages. One system.

The problem. The business had grown by saying yes to almost every client. Some were a great fit. Others took up space, team time and complexity out of proportion to what they brought in, and nobody could see which was which.

What I did. I reviewed every client on two things: how profitable they were, and how well they fitted the way we worked. My team and I then put our effort into the clients who were the right fit. For those who weren't, we helped them find a 3PL better suited to their needs.

The outcome. More productivity per square metre, a simpler business to run, and better client satisfaction.

The problem. High-quality cardboard from our main client was going to the baler as waste. It was a cost, and nobody questioned it.

What I did. I treated it as a system question rather than a waste problem: where could this create value? My team and I diverted the boxes and sold them for reuse.

The outcome. 250 pallets repurposed and more than 600,000 litres of water saved in six months. We put the proceeds back into the team's working environment.

The problem. Amazon was becoming a major channel across Europe, and it was tempting to treat it as one more customer. But every product had different economics on Amazon, and one approach wasn't going to fit the whole range.

What I did. I decided product by product whether to sell as Vendor (1P) or Seller (3P), based on what made money. I built the Amazon strategy and portfolio as part of the wider eCommerce strategy, not as a customer in isolation, so each channel supported the others. My team and I launched across the UK, Germany, France and beyond.

The outcome. An Amazon EU business worth £16.5m.

The problem. Most hair colour was bought to cover grey. LIVE Colour XXL was different: people used it to express themselves. The brand needed a position that owned that difference, so it could grow in the UK.

What I did. I made the call to reposition the brand in the UK. I also led the early digital strategy, including the UK social media launch, before most consumer brands knew what social was for.

The outcome. Market value doubled to £23.5m.

The problem. It was 2015, and eCommerce was still taking shape in consumer goods. A global consumer business had no eCommerce function in Europe. There was no playbook, no team and no infrastructure. Online sat between functions and nobody owned it.

What I did. I built the function from scratch: the channel strategy, the team, DTC ecosystems across key markets (platform, fulfilment and customer experience), and the analytics to make decisions faster. When a planned DTC acquisition froze our own projects, I reframed them so we could keep moving at lower intensity. The deal fell through, and we hadn't lost the months.

The outcome. A £22m multi-market, multi-channel operation by the time I left.

The problem. Order volumes were climbing faster than the warehouse could handle them. The operation relied on workarounds and on people knowing how things worked.

What I did. My team and I redesigned the processes first and tightened the operational disciplines. Then we implemented a new WMS and CRM, managing the change carefully so live operations were protected throughout.

The outcome. Monthly order throughput scaled 2.5x without the go-live disrupting clients.

The problem. Nobody clearly owned the big areas of the business. Communication ran almost entirely on Slack, so people outside the loop were missing context. There was no route for people to grow into leadership.

What I did. I redesigned the leadership structure with clear ownership across Operations, Client Success, People, Commercial and Sustainability, then recruited and developed into each role. We built internal communications from scratch: a newsletter, an impact report, a new website, an internal TV channel and focus groups. I launched the company's first Leadership Academy, and used AI throughout to keep it lean, from recruitment to policy writing and grant applications that secured funding.

The outcome. A leadership team with clear ownership, a business that talked to itself properly, and future leaders grown from within.

The problem. The business had scaled 10x in three years. It had real momentum, but it had outgrown its own structure. Roles were unclear, processes had been built for half the size, and decisions ran through too few people.

What I did. I worked on the whole system rather than one department. The leadership structure, processes, systems and cost base all changed together, so each improvement made the next one easier. The warehouse and leadership stories under Build are two of the pieces.

The outcome. Revenue grew 63% in FY25/26, with the foundations in place to keep growing.

The problem. A £61m cookie portfolio needed to grow in a mature, crowded category.

What I did. I led growth across the portfolio and launched Maryland Gooeys as a new line. I also led a £5m capital investment across two manufacturing sites with a 70-person cross-functional team, so the factories could keep up with what we were selling.

The outcome. +23% growth for the portfolio. Maryland Gooeys delivered £12.3m in retail sales in its first year.

The problem. The business was growing fast, but board meetings were mostly operational updates. Minutes and actions lacked rigour, so decisions didn't always stick. There was no shared view of performance, risk or long-term direction. At the same time, B Corp and ISO 14001 both demanded formal governance that could stand up to an external audit.

What I did. The board was a chair, two founders, a non-executive director, the Finance Director and me. I acted as a board partner, not just the person reporting on operations. I brought in KPI dashboards and a monthly board pack, sent out in advance so meetings could focus on decisions. I added a monthly health and safety update, a business continuity plan and more legal rigour around minutes and actions. I led the business through changing its articles of association for B Corp, and invited functional leaders in from time to time so the board heard directly from the people running the business.

The outcome. Better decisions, made on evidence rather than updates. Conflicts of interest checked at every meeting. Board capability training, so the board itself kept improving. And governance that held up for both B Corp and ISO 14001.

The problem. Sustainability was part of the promise to clients, but it wasn't yet part of how the operation ran day to day.

What I did. I led sustainability at board level and built it into operations through a series of small, practical waste changes. Together, my team and I turned them into a full waste system.

The outcome. B Corp certification and ISO 14001 accreditation, both from a standing start, and both run as business practice rather than a compliance exercise.

The problem. A global CPG food company needed consistent commercial skills across many markets, not one-off training that faded after the workshop.

What I did. I designed and rolled out a multi-market sales academy. I also delivered commercial capability programmes in B2B selling, shopper strategy and commercial communication for other global consumer brands.

The outcome. The academy is now embedded across markets as permanent capability.