Team

For 35 years, Anita has been helping firms be even more successful by getting them to think and act differently to get great results. She’s worked with organisations across retail and hospitality including Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Pure South (New Zealand Lamb), Kraft Heinz, Kiddylicious, Unilever, Bidfood, Arla and BRITA.

Anita is one of the Top 150 Women in Food, Drink & Hospitality, an Inspiration Award for Women winner, a member of the Food Innovation Network, a judge for PR and food industry awards and facilitator for food industry events/webinars.

Her clear thinking, unrivalled knowledge of the food & drink industry, and pragmatic approach ensures each brand has a tailored, commercial solution that sets them on the path to success.

Rachel is a brand communications strategist, known for her attention grabbing storytelling, strategic insight, and ability to turn ideas into commercial results for her clients.

Her background is in earned media across B2B and B2C sectors. Over her 30-year career, she has overseen campaigns and shaped cultural commentary for well-loved household names that include Specsavers, Aldi, JustGiving and Del Monte.

Rachel thrives in fast-paced environments, champions originality, and believes in the power of PR to move people and markets.

Fiona is an ex-journalist with 19 years’ experience in food & drink. She kicked off her career as a regional journalist before joining William Reed and the world of food and drink publishing.

Over the last 18 years she’s created award-winning campaigns for some of the industry’s biggest names – both on the operator and brand side. She’s worked with Unilever Food Solutions, McVitie’s, Nestlé Professional and Kraft Heinz.

Fiona’s mix of strategic thinking and creativity help generate powerful PR campaigns that deliver commercial results for clients. She understands the complexity of the market and how to land messages with chefs, buyers and sector media. Her finger is always on the pulse when it comes to media, trends and insights which all bring an edge to campaigns.

She sits on the fundraising and marketing committees of Springboard, and the board of the Brighton & Hove Food partnership.

Chris is a Chartered Accountant with 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and senior director.

He trained in Corporate Finance with PwC, progressing to roles such as CEO of AIM listed Ovum plc, Europe’s largest technology research business. Chris is the founder and CEO of Informed Funding, director of food and drink PR & marketing agency William Murray and sits on the advisory boards of Breachlock and Verified Visitors.

He brings a wealth of financial expertise to the table, looking after forecasting, financial planning, budgeting and contract negotiation to make sure you get the best deals and are primed for profit.

A chartered coach and business consultant, John has 40 years’ experience in senior sales, marketing and consulting roles.

He is currently the managing director of change management consulting business JM Consulting and sits on the board of William Murray playing a vital role in team coaching and steering the strategy of the business.

Previous roles include executive director at Ernst & Young, UK managing director of biotech company Sanofi Genzyme, and chair of Autointel.

Jim’s three decades in law bring more than just legal advice to the table. He’s an analytical thinker and sharp negotiator with a strong sense of humour and sharp sense of justice.

He’s a highly experienced courtroom lawyer heading a large litigation law firm. When he’s not in the court room, Jim is training young advocates how to build successful, convincing, civil and criminal court cases on behalf of clients.

Jim sits on the board of William Murray offering advice and strategic council.

With more than 15 years’ experience working in retail and hospitality – both as a full-service marketing professional and as an entrepreneur/owner operator – Rebecca has a unique set of skills to identify the right steps a brand should take to succeed.

In 2008 she launched Yog, the UK’s first frozen yogurt. As co-founder she grew the business to a £3M turnover, with a 12-store yogurt chain and retail range in Wholefoods, Waitrose, Ocado and Tesco in the UK, El Corte Ingles in Spain and Lulu and Spinneys in the Middle East.

Brands that she has worked with include AMT Coffee, PizzaExpress, Smashburger, Chosen Bun, The Street Food Company, Poncho8 and Crepeaffaire.

Rebecca has created and launched brands, managed store openings and product launches and hosted a range of media events as well as business planning, marketing strategy and marketing communications planning. She has excellent contacts in retail and OOH media and is our go-to when it comes to shopper marketing.

David has over 25 years’ experience working in senior category and strategic management roles. He’s our data guru and uses category and consumer insights to help brands enter retail – and grow sales once they’re there.

He’s worked with every major retail group in the UK and has a black book full of buyer contacts both here and in Europe.

Category expertise includes: speciality milks, cheese, dairy products, breakfast cereals, savoury biscuits, wine, juice & smoothies and chilled meals.

David has established relationships with all the major data companies. He is an expert in category systems from the likes of Nielsen, IRI and Kantar to retailer systems such as the Dunnhumby Shop and Nectar 360.

Sales specialist Alexis has over 25 years’ experience working in senior commercial and national account management roles. He thrives on helping brands grow their sales through retail.

Alexis has worked across grocery, convenience, wholesale and online. He’s an expert in business development, account management, negotiating, forecasting and relationship building. Combine this with his category knowledge, and you’ve got a killer combo that has helped brands like Nestlé, Mr Kipling and Ryvita.

Over the years he has gained listings for a number of small to medium sized brands with major retailers and been instrumental in growing them once they’re listed.