× Robert Lawson Joined Robert Lawson co-founded Food Strategy Associates in 2012
Expertise He is an expert in M&A, having led many transactions across the world. He also specialises in business strategy and plant-based foods.
Prior experience Before founding Food Strategy Associates, Robert was Strategy Director of United Biscuits, Kraft Foods International and Premier Foods. In addition, he was Managing Director of Quorn and led the integration of RHM and Premier Foods – the largest industrial restructuring in the food industry in the UK. He began his career in management consulting working for Arthur D Little.
Education Robert has an MBA from INSEAD and graduated from Oxford University.
× Will Carter Joined Will Carter co-founded Food Strategy Associates in 2012
Expertise Will is highly experienced in commercial and general management across the food and snacking industry
Prior experience Will has run some of the UK’s leading grocery and snacking businesses as Managing Director of United Biscuits UK, KP Snacks, Premier Foods Grocery and as CEO of Whitworths. He was previously Marketing Director of KP Snacks, McVitie’s and Terry’s Confectionery.
Education Will is a graduate of Oxford University.
× Ian Coulter Joined Ian Coulter joined Food Strategy Associates in 2014
Expertise Ian is a beverage industry, packaging and eCommerce expert. He has developed store audit methods for market modelling of detailed packaging features.
Prior experience Ian spent over 12 years working in the soft drinks sector at the Coca-Cola Company and Coca Cola Enterprises. He spent 5 years as a Consultant at Boston Consulting Group where he focused on Consumer Goods
Education Ian has an MBA from INSEAD and an MA from Cambridge
× Ian Weston Joined Ian Weston joined Food Strategy Associates in 2016
Expertise Ian is expert in competitive strategy, commercial due diligence and plant-based foods.
Prior experience Ian spent 5 years as Senior Vice President Special Projects with Dow Jones in New York, and led Corporate Development, Sales, and Operations departments at News International in London. Ian spent 7 years at Boston Consulting Group.
Education Ian has an MBA from INSEAD and an MA from Oxford University
× Stuart Wilson Joined Stuart Wilson joined Food Strategy Associates as an Associate Partnerin 2016 and became a Partner in 2018.
Expertise Stuart is a specialist in consumer marketing and customer strategy, with first-hand experience in private equity transactions and matrix organisations in global corporates.
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates Stuart worked for almost 30 years for some of the world’s favourite food brands in senior marketing roles including Chief Marketing Officer at Burton’s Biscuits and senior roles at Cadbury, Kraft Foods International (Mondelez) and Premier Foods.
Education Stuart has an MBA with Distinction from the University of Warwick and a BA from the University of Manchester.
× Nigel Devine Joined Nigel Devine joined Food Strategy Associates as an Associate in 2014 and became a Partner in 2019.
Expertise He is an expert in Operational due diligence and manufacturing strategy.
Prior experience Nigel has a background in factory and supply chain operations management with Northern Foods, Geest & Premier Foods (Grocery, Meat Free & Hovis). He is an experienced leader of supply chain operations and business transformation change programmes with Unilever, Greene King, Hain Daniels, and 2 Sisters and Premier Foods
Education Nigel has a diploma in Management Studies
× Steve Gladwell Joined Steve Gladwell joined Food Strategy Associates in 2017
Expertise Steve is our expert in consumer insights and snacking markets.
Prior experience Steve’s prior experience includes more than 27 years at United Biscuits and pladis in a range of roles focused on Global strategy development, consumer & market insight and intelligence, including main board directorships.
Education Steve has a BSc Hons in Business Economics & Economics from Southampton University.
× Richard Wyborn Joined
Richard Wyborn joined Food Strategy Associates in 2020
Expertise Richard has expertise in Sports nutrition, eCommerce and beer
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates, Richard was Strategy Director of Science in Sport, the UK sports nutrition business, as well as holding strategy positions at SAB Miller. He was previously a Senior Consultant at Bain & Co.
Education
Richard has an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Management Sciences
× Daniel Winder Joined Daniel Winder joined Food Strategy Associates in 2018
Expertise Daniel has strong experience in Market Analysis and eCommerce
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates, Daniel gained experience in the airline industry as a Data Analyst in Revenue Management with a focus on pricing and promotion optimisation.
Education Daniel graduated with Distinction from the University of Leeds with an MSc in Consumer Analytics and Marketing Strategy after being awarded a scholarship. He also holds a First Class BA (Hons) from the University of Liverpool.
× Sophie Young Joined Sophie Young joined Food Strategy Associates in 2019
Expertise Sophie has strong experience in supply chain analysis and plant-based foods
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates, Sophie worked at The Sports Consultancy as an Analyst with a focus on feasibility studies and business planning for major events and venues.
Education Sophie graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc in Economics with Geography
× James Milner Joined James Milner joined Food Strategy Associates in 2020
Expertise James has strong experience in Data Science
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates, James worked at James Cook University and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources as a data scientist with a focus on climate modelling. He has also gained experience in marketing and communications.
Education James graduated with First Class Honours from James Cook University (Australia) with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science.
× Harry Turner Joined James Milner joined Food Strategy Associates in 2020
Expertise Harry has strong experience in data analysis and market insight
Prior experience Prior to joining Food Strategy Associates, Harry gained experience in the insurance industry as a Market Insight & Strategy Analyst, focused on increasing profitability across multiple business lines
Education Harry holds a First Class BSc (Hons) in Economics from the Bath
× Allan Slimming Joined Allan Slimming joined Food Strategy Associates in 2014, advising on North American market entry strategy and due diligence of North American subsidiaries.
Expertise He is a specialist in launching new brands in North America with expertise in sales and marketing and early stage distribution
Prior experience
Allan began his career in Sales and Marketing for United Biscuits and subsequently worked for a number of confectionery businesses leading the development of their North American operations from early stage, including Chupa Chups, Divine Chocolate and Burtons Biscuits
Education Allan holds a BA in Economics from the University of Reading
× Peter Jung Joined Peter Jung joined Food Strategy Associates in 2015, advising on market issues in Europe
Expertise He is an expert in German commercial management and brand marketing
Prior experience Peter was previously been CEO of Atlanta in Germany, MD of Evian and Volvic in the UK and CEO of the German retail chain Plus Discount. He began his career in brand marketing and sales with Henkel and then Danone in Germany.
Education Peter has an MBA
× Malcolm Wilkes Joined Malcolm Wilkes joined Food Strategy Associates in 2016, advising on all things technical
Expertise He is an an expert in food technology and new product development (NPD)
Prior experience Malcolm was previously Technical Director at United Biscuits. He is a specialist in baked and fried snacks technologies with experience and insight in most food categories.
Education Malcolm has an MSc in Food Science from the University of Leeds
× Gary Williams Joined Gary Williams joined Food Strategy Associates in 2015, advising on procurement.
Expertise He is a procurement expert.
Prior experience Gary was formerly Procurement Director at Burtons Biscuits and prior to that at McVitie’s and KP Snacks.
Education Gary holds a BSc in Physics from the University of Leeds
× Andy Weston-Webb Joined Andy Weston-Webb joined Food Strategy Associates in 2016.
Expertise He is a an expert in frozen food and confectionery categories.
Prior experience Andy was previously Chief Commercial Officer of Nomad Foods (Birdseye Iglo) and has held a variety of senior positions at Mars including President of Chocolate in Western Europe, President of Australia and New Zealand, and European VP of Food. Prior to working at Mars he held senior marketing positions at United Biscuits and Colgate Palmolive.
Education Andy holds a BA from the University of Huddersfield
× Ivan Castelli Joined Ivan Castelli joined Food Strategy Associates in 2016
Expertise Ivan is our expert packaging researcher. He has completed store audits in many European countries and North America. Ivan is a specialist in recognising and recording many types of food packaging including rigid trays and films and is able to distinguish different materials and processing method, across a wide range of food types.
Prior experience In his early career, Ivan was an environmental consultant and general manager of his family’s luxury retail business.
Education Ivan has a management masters in Food and Beverages from Bocconi University. He has a BSc from Bologna and an MSc from Siena. Ivan is fluent in Italian and English.