The HRA Global Team

Hamish is a board-level director with almost 20 years experience in the Free From industry. He founded HRA, a boutique consultancy for food, drink, and personal care, in 2011, focusing on marketing, strategy, innovation, and exports.

Hamish’s career includes over seven years at FTSE 250 companies, including four years at Tesco, where he launched key ranges like Free From, Wholefoods, and Healthy Living.

A pioneer in promoting healthy fats, proteins, and reducing sugar use, he significantly impacted the GI Diet’s success.

Holding a first-class degree from Cambridge and an MBA from Henley Business School, Hamish is also a full member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCIM) and an associate of the Market Research Society (AMRS). He received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the Free From sector.

Hamish frequently writes for industry publications and chairs conferences like the Allergy Show and Free From Expo. He also serves as a judge for several food industry awards.

Rozz is a brand and marketing consultant with over 30 years of experience in driving growth, innovation, and profitability. She has worked with major national retailers and led marketing departments for prominent brands, consistently delivering outstanding results. Rozz also founded and led a successful organisational development and brand consultancy, shaping the strategic direction of numerous businesses.

Her ethos focuses on delivering measurable outcomes, enhancing profitability, and building high-performing teams. Rozz is dedicated to nurturing talent and fostering sustainable growth, ensuring businesses thrive in today’s competitive market.

Rozz is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and holds CIPD qualifications. Her senior leadership experience across diverse organisations has given her a deep understanding of cultivating strong teams and developing strategies for long-term success.

Ellen has decades of experience working across multiple sectors, bringing a wealth of knowledge from roles in international brand marketing, Associate Director positions and as the founder of her own agency. She has also successfully project-managed and launched a complex health app to help people manage multiple medical conditions.

​With a BA (Hons) in Business Management and a CIM qualification in Marketing, Ellen’s diverse expertise and cross-functional skills make her highly effective in leading and supporting business growth.

Ellen brings a structured and practical lens when working with HRA’s clients, leveraging a deep understanding of go to market strategies, category insights, consumer behaviours and sustainable practices. ​ ​

Her passion lies in turning concepts into commercially viable plans, whilst managing HRA’s cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution. Ellen brings a hands-on approach to each project, ensuring milestones are met on time and within budget.​

Jeffrey brings over 25 years of strategic business experience across the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors, excelling in both start-up and large corporate environments. His extensive leadership background spans roles in Europe, South America, and North America, where he has successfully led multi-functional teams and delivered impactful results for diverse global markets.

A versatile professional with a strong cultural awareness and multilingual fluency, Jeffrey navigates complex international landscapes to build effective partnerships and drive growth. His solid understanding of all functional areas within a company enables him to achieve fast results, helping clients to anticipate industry trends and seize market opportunities. Recently, Jeffrey contributed his expertise to a Market Outlook project for the North American Dairy Industry, where he collaborated closely with Context Partners, clients, and project teams. Jeffrey’s insights and analytical approach make him a trusted asset to businesses worldwide.

Kim brings over a decade of consultancy experience across the food and drink supply chain, offering strategic advice on everything from contract manufacturing and product development to brand positioning. A First-class graduate from Durham, she has a sharp analytical eye and a specialist focus on research and market intelligence.​

CMRS-accredited, Kim leads both qualitative and quantitative research projects — from focus groups and consumer surveys to B2B depth interviews. She is particularly skilled at extracting meaningful insights from complex datasets, distilling findings into clear, actionable recommendations that align with her clients’ core objectives. Her broad knowledge of the food and drink landscape allows her to embed consumer and category insight within the wider market context.

Kim has worked with clients across chilled, ambient and frozen categories, providing insight-led recommendations on NPD, branding, positioning and go-to-market strategy. She has a particular talent for unlocking insight in hard-to-quantify or emerging sectors, helping clients build confidence in their decision-making even where data is limited.

Louise has 7 years of experience in NPD and Innovation across various food and drink brands. She started her career at Charlie Bigham’s and Adelie Foods, gaining hands-on experience in high care, chilled manufacturing. Later, she transitioned into foodservice, holding innovation roles at KFC and Krispy Kreme, where she launched seasonal promotions and collaborated with major FMCG brands. At Craft Gin Club, Louise developed a new retail strategy, expanding the business beyond e-commerce.

At HRA, Louise has managed projects like developing a product range within a tight 3-month timeline and supporting a European client’s UK market entry with innovative insights. She also provides technical support, including factory audits and collaborating with brand teams to ensure alignment in R&D briefs.

With a Food Science degree from Nottingham University, Louise blends academic knowledge with practical expertise to drive product innovation and deliver impactful results.

Emily manages our accounts here at HRA with a perceptive initiative that keeps us going from project to project efficiently. With 15 years’ financial experience, she oversees both finances and the office. Quite frankly, we don’t know what we’d do without her. A trainee sourdough maker, she fills our office with her practical food and drink expertise every lunchtime.

Lani graduated in 2024 with a first-class degree in Marketing Management, with a keen academic focus on market analytics, consumer behaviour, and business strategy.

She developed her commercial skills through a varied role at Jude’s Ice Cream, where she contributed across logistics, sales, sustainability, and marketing. Alongside this, Lani brings considerable customer service and management experience from a family-owned beach cafe chain, where she held positions of responsibility and developed strong stakeholder communication skills from an early stage in her career.

At HRA Global, Lani applies her analytical and creative capabilities to support a range of client projects. She is skilled in compiling and interpreting data, producing reports and presentations, and coordinating multi-faceted workstreams. Her experience in consumer research, competitor analysis, and campaign coordination — combined with an adaptable, organised, and collaborative working style — means she is well-placed to deliver insight-led support across the food and beverage industry.

Karen brings over 40 years of experience in customer service and executive-level administrative support. She began her career as a receptionist at a prestigious 4-star hotel in Bristol, where she developed her passion for delivering high-quality customer service. Her career evolved across various sectors, notably within national and local independent house builders, where she applied her expertise to enhance client experiences.

Following the 2008 financial crisis and a shift in the construction industry, Karen transitioned to the UK’s largest dairy cooperative, where she served as Office Manager and later as an Executive PA. In 2013, leveraging her extensive administrative and customer service experience, she launched her own virtual PA business, offering tailored support to a diverse range of clients.

Simon has a very detailed knowledge of the UK Grocery channel, having spent the last 27 years working in various roles across Buying (10 years across Tesco & Sainsbury’s), Insight & Category Management.​
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He spent 16 months working as a Senior Category Manager for KP Snacks, focusing on the Sainsbury’s account. He worked in partnership with them to lead a full range review of the Crisps, Snacks & Nuts category so has extensive experience of that category, its shoppers/consumers and related issues / considerations for any new brand launch. During that time he helped Sainsbury’s unlock new growth to total category as well as growing KP brands share (including distribution gains as a result of the range review).​

​He is passionate about using consumer, shopper & category insight to transform how businesses understand and engage their customers, and now leads Category and Commercial teams across FMCG and Consumer Durables to step changes in sales & profitability.​

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Andy is an experienced Development and Technical Manager with over 30 years of success in the food & beverages industry. with professional skills in Operations Management, Food Science, GMP, and Quality Management.  ​

​With experience in both manufacturing and retail Andy brings a wealth of knowledge in bringing products to market and can provide flexible support for all aspects of Technical Management, Product Development and Project Management.​​

A Technical Manager and food safety professional with nearly 20 years of experience in a vast range of products, specialising in food microbiology, quality, manufacturing, GAP assessments and training. Dominika has a wide range of experience in all of the major retailers COP.

During her career, she has supported a number of food businesses helping them with compliance to numerous technical industry requirements such as BRCGS and retail standards.

Originating from Poland, Dominika can provide all technical services in both Polish and English.

Caroline is a sought-after Sustainability Consultant with over 20 years of experience of working and travelling across global and domestic food systems. During her time at some of the UK’s most loved food retailer brands including Co-op and Waitrose, she has fostered collaborative relationships from across the whole food system.

Caroline is a Trustee for LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), Engaging and Influencing for Scope 3 success Coach for Future Food Movement, ICF trained Embodied Systemic Executive Coach and Group Coach, and a CFCL qualified Compassionate Leader Teacher Trainer, as a Mentor for Catalyse Change she is a passionate champion of young women and girls who want to be the sustainability leaders and change makers of the future.

Outside of work, Caroline is a keen sportswoman and horsewoman and recently completed the GROW for Good Challenge epic 75km cycling adventure and working on regenerative farms in Kenya, raising £75,000 to support female farmers in East Africa through Farm Africa’s regenerative agriculture project.

Alice Swift is a senior consultant with expertise in agricultural strategy, animal welfare, and sustainability standards, helping food brands enhance their integrity. Raised on a family farm in Northumberland, her passion for the agri-food industry began with a degree in Agri-Food production at Harper Adams, followed by key roles at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Arla Foods.

As Agriculture Director at Arla, Alice led initiatives like the Arla UK 360 program and Climate Check to improve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. She also played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between farmers and retailers, developing innovative payment models and animal welfare standards at Sainsbury’s.

In 2022, Alice became CEO of the British Limousin Cattle Society, where she launched the ‘Green Genes’ campaign to promote the breed’s efficiency across the beef industry.

Steve brings 25 years of expertise in UK food manufacturing, specialising in retail and foodservice. His experience spans branded and private label products across diverse categories.

Steve began his career at Unigate/Dairycrest, managing dairy and fruit juice portfolios, followed by United Biscuits, where he grew the “snacks to go” portfolio by 23% in a competitive market. During his 9 years at Yeo Valley, he doubled ice cream sales, and later, as Head of Export, expanded Yeo Valley’s reach into the EU, Middle East, Korea, and Japan. Steve’s roles include Sales Director at Tideford Organics, Commercial Director at a plant-based division, and MD at Dragonfly Foods, where he established a UK-made, Japanese-inspired tofu.

Known for his strategic foresight, Steve excels at establishing brands across new and established markets.

Former founder of Moorish Dips, Julie Waddell successfully scaled her FMCG brand and secured a full exit to Bakkavor Foods Ltd. Her entrepreneurial journey includes securing listings with major retailers and international markets.​​

​With a proven track record in driving brand growth, scaling operations, and navigating successful exits, Julie is now a sought-after consultant in the food and drink industry. Her first-hand experience as a founder allows her to provide invaluable insights and support to businesses looking to expand, scale, or prepare for acquisition.​

At HRA Global, Julie combines her strategic vision and industry knowledge to help clients achieve their growth ambitions.​​

With over 30 years of experience in the UK food retail sector, Natalie is a highly skilled leader specialising in commercial strategy, product innovation, and digital transformation. She has held senior roles at leading retailers, including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.

Most recently, as Director of Own Brand at Waitrose, she led the strategic direction of product offerings and drove efficiencies to optimise overall business performance.

Her extensive expertise spans positions such as Head of Brand Development and Product Innovation, Head of Online Trading, and Head of Buying, where she crafted product propositions and enhanced profitability.

Her broad commercial background across multiple food and non-food categories has allowed her to build strong supplier relationships and drive long-term strategic planning. Natalie’s approach centres on delivering impactful, data-driven results that contribute to brand growth and consumer loyalty.

See the results of our epic virtual journey from the UK to New Zealand of a unique blend of fitness and global teamwork to support FareShare!

HRA’s Charity Challenge

We’re based a stone’s throw from a beach with a beautifully clear swim spot, and after encouragement from our resident professional wild swimmer Steph, so began our weekly swim club.

People ‘dip’ in an out when they want, with some more fair weather swimmers than others!

As part of our commitment to environmental stewardship, our team ventured out to local parks to explore and document wildlife using the iNaturalist app. With over 80 observations, we contributed valuable data to support ecological research and conservation, reinforcing our dedication to preserving local biodiversity.

The team have great fun going out to the local park, streets and beach for their monthly litter picks, with even comments from residents saying ‘well done!’