Simon Harris Email & Phone Number

Malton, England, United Kingdom

Developing the overall Trading Proposition and the disciplines that deliver it

Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

At Hornton Consulting Ltd. I act in a Business Consultant role. I specialise in conducting thorough business analyses to identify areas for improvement and growth. My style is to build solid client relationships collaborating closely to gain a deep understanding of their business objectives and challenges.One of my key strengths lies in developing and implementing tailored business strategies aimed at enhancing efficiency and profitability working closely with stakeholders to ensure that resulting strategies align closely with their overarching goals and objectives. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with FMCG food companies on an interim basis,where I focused on enhancing both B2B and B2C opportunities. This hands-on experience allowed me to gain valuable insights into the intricacies of the food industry and provided me with the opportunity to make tangible contributions to my clients' success.

Bristol, United Kingdom

At Cakesmiths in Bristol, I served as the Managing Director, providing strategic leadership and overseeing day-to-day operations to ensure efficient workflow and productivity. I developed and implemented business strategies in collaboration with the board team and department heads, aligning activities with overall objectives and monitoring financial performance.Notable achievements include orchestrating a sales increase from £3M in 2016-17 to £22M in 2023-24, expanding geographical coverage in the UK from 40% to 100% through a geographic based wholesaler strategy. During Covid-19, I led strategic planning, shifting our sales ratio from 30:70 online to offline pre-Covid to 70:30 today while maintaining and growing traditional offline sales.I mentored and developed board members, enhancing their leadership skills. I led our internal team through a Management Buyout (MBO) in 2022, securing secondary PE House investment in January 2024. I managed the external sales agency, accountable for over 10% of all offline sales and diversifying the customer base.I spearheaded the transition from SALSA Assessment to BRC certification, maintaining an A+ rating, and achieved a Product NPS score of 9+ by implementing key product quality assessments. These efforts ensure compliance with industry regulations and uphold the highest standards of product quality and safety.

Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

During my tenure at Cakesmiths in Bristol from 2017 to 2019, I served as the Sales Director and Commercial Manager, where I spearheaded the implementation of a comprehensive wholesale strategy. This strategy, which included pricing and promotional policies along with geographic clarity, laid the foundation for significant sales growth while maintaining healthy margins.One of my key responsibilities was the development and nurturing of relationships with key clients and stakeholders. This proactive approach resulted in continuous growth, evidenced by a +50%increase in sales within the existing account portfolio. Notable clients within this portfolio included Lounger Group Plc, Nero Group, Hotel Chocolat, and Compass.Moreover, I successfully expanded the company's client base by securing partnerships with severalprestigious blue-chip clients. Through effective negotiation and relationship-building, I facilitated theacquisition of clients such as Benugo, Brakes - Own Label, Leon, WSH – Baxter Storey, and Barlett Mitchell, contributing to over £5M in additional sales.In addition to driving sales growth, I also focused on improving margins. Through strategic initiatives and meticulous management, I led the business to achieve a 5% margin improvement across the entire operation.This achievement underscores my ability to balance growth objectives with financial sustainability and operational efficiency.

Bristol, United Kingdom

Based In Banbury - Covering 19 Countries Across Western Europe

Promoted to deliver a change of business focus from product to customer led, across 19 countries.• Refocused the primary brand led communications across the region.• Created a 3 year plan for HoReCa to generate 32% growth in volume with significant additional gross margin and delivered the first year on track.• Led the project to develop a product/application matrix to enable a category approach to sales in the three key sectors of Bakery/Pastry, HoReCa and Confectionery.• Implemented the smooth transition of Semi industrial key customers, into Gourmet division from Food Manufacturing, to deliver significant additional profit over .• Introduced a distance learning module for distributor sales forces across W. Europe.• Successfully introduced a measurement suite to monitor customer segment performance.

Alicante, Spain

BCPMI was the Frozen Pastry business selling to foodservice and retail across Western EuropeInvited to also minimise losses in Spain to enable a sale of the plant – 40 permanent staff.• Introduced a product management system to ensure minimal losses linked to private label sales and smooth the flow of product development.• Introduced and delivered a successful sales strategy to rapidly grow retail market sales.• Implemented a change in management culture creating a team approach to solving issues. • Gained Asda and Nestle as customers and developed 6 new products with Sainsbury as their lead Christmas promotion in 2012.• Developed and launched 12 new products. Generated a €2.2m pipe line of projects. • Delivered the first period of trading profit ever seen in the life of the plant.• Achieved a smooth transition pre and post the sale of the plant to the Givesco organisation, retaining a legacy position following the sale of the BCPMI Factory of Director of Sales for Cacao Barry Frozen - Western Europe coordinating all aspects of the sales and marketing relationship between the new owners and the Barry Callebaut ongoing business

Banbury - Oxon Uk

Invited to grow sales in the B2B artisan market, chefs, bakers, pastissiers and confectioners, through a collaborative and acquisitive sales strategies, building to 10 staff.• Undertook a root and branch review of Gourmet business developing and delivering strategic sales & marketing plan to double sales.• Opened the UK Cash and Carry market to Callebaut chocolate,• Developed and branded an annual customer event, enhancing new business development.• Achieved brand of first choice amongst the distributor and user community, through interactive PR, sound commercial activity and training.• Negotiated a distributor out of grey market without margin loss and went on to triple the business to more than 500mt.• Retained and built the most successful gourmet sales team of any country – won CEO award. • Grew volume by 105% and margin by 30%and outperforming market growth by 70%

Wellingborough

Promoted to develop and market the range and service proposition for Caterers, and caterer linked own brands – Chefs Larder and Malt House Vintners – 6 staff – £1.5m budget• Developed, gained Board and business buy in, and led 15 cross functional managers in implementation of a 3 year strategic plan to grow caterer sales by £29.7m.• Initiated and rebranded Chefs Larder brand across some 1400 food and non-food products and the Malt House Vintners brand across 250 wines and spirits.• Expanded the Chefs Larder brand to cover everything used by Caterers, including hardware.• Introduced an own brand loyalty scheme for Chefs Larder linked to Airmiles, driving own brand participation up by 6 points to over 20%.• Integrated the £35m Nurdin & Peacock Happy Chef brand into the £75m Chefs Larder brand, adding £2m margin and maintaining growth rates 1.2% ahead of the market.• Worked with the buying team, delivering £2m of additional sales through range management and new product development in the frozen desserts category.• Built Catering sales from £800m to £1bn, maintaining double Retail margins and delivering operating profits of £150m.

• Designed and delivered 4 catering only Cash and Carries in Bath, Skegness, Blackpool and Cheadle, covering all aspects from range and layout to signage and local marketing. • Achieved double the profit margins of Retail Cash & Carry and promoted to rollout the lessons learned from the 4 sites to the full 105 site Cash and Carry network.

National Accounts ManagerRapidly and progressively promoted to grow multi temperature distribution business.• Supported the growth of TGI Friday business from £600k to £1.1m per store pa, by expanding the range of products supplied, including entry into fresh produce.• Introduced central distribution to Whitbread Hotels, growing t/o 33% to £12.5m pa.• Secured many new accounts, building own portfolio from £400k to £2.5m pa

Business And Finance With European Studies

Business And Finance With European Studies

Hnd, Agriculture

Education record