Executive Leadership Team

1 External advisor updates
2 Professional network
3 Institute updates
4 Investor forums
5 Self study
6 Industry bodies
7 Other non-executive roles
8 Member of Institute of Directors

Dave Walmsley

Managing Director, Fuels

Dave Walmsley

Managing Director, Fuels

Fuels experienced a normalisation of margins this financial year. Commodities have been stable throughout and we had a mild winter. We have successfully managed our cost base throughout this period.

Experience

Appointed Managing Director of the Fuels business in November 2022. Previously held the position of Managing Director of SIG Distribution and senior positions at Palletways and Lyreco.

Key skills

Strategy and leadership
Operations
Sales and marketing

Angela Carus

Managing Director, Food

Angela Carus

Managing Director, Food

Continued strong customer demand delivered a strong performance and supported the investment in the Lymedale warehouse expansion.

Experience

Appointed Managing Director of the Food business in January 2022. Having worked in the logistics sector since leaving school, Angela worked her way up to hold a variety of senior positions and joins the Group from Culina where she was a Director of Operations.

Key skills

Strategy and leadership
Sector experience
Operations
Sales and marketing

Andrew Downie

Managing Director, Feeds

Andrew Downie

Managing Director, Feeds

Normalised market conditions and effective operational management have created efficiencies, delivering a solid result.

Experience

Appointed Managing Director of the Feeds business in February 2015. Previously held the position of Head of Operations at ABF plc and senior positions at AB World Foods and Patak’s Foods Limited.

Key skills

Strategy and leadership
Operations
Finance
Mergers and acquisitions
Sales and marketing

Q&A

Fuels

Q. What is your background?

A. My career began in retail before moving into B2B sales-driven distribution businesses. These encompassed centralised distribution of office products and palletised freight and localised distribution of construction products, before entering the world of fuel sale and distribution. For over 20 years I have led large distribution organisations in the UK and in various European countries with ten years’ experience of living and working overseas. All the sectors I have worked in have been highly competitive and commoditised, rely on high levels of service to attract and retain customers and require highly energised teams to own the customer relationship.

Q. What do you do at NWF?

A. As the MD of the Fuels business, my role is to determine and then hit the strategic objectives to grow volume and profitability and return shareholder value. To achieve this, I need to be developing a strong team in both breadth and depth which can own and deliver the result, as well as ensuring the business units are equipped with the tools and support they need. I am also involved in streamlining areas of focus and identifying acquisitions to complement our existing footprint.

On a day-to-day basis my role is to ensure that we never run out of fuel and that we are an effective partner to our suppliers and customers, and that our people trust us with their careers.

Q. What does the future look like for your business?

A. Fuels has a bright future and is always a fun place to be, with a stated intention and track record of investing in a growth strategy. The business is very focused on developing internal talent to support this growth and we have a clear and evidenced record of preparing and then promoting relatively young talent to take on senior roles. Whilst we offer a commoditised ‘need to have product’ to our customers, the team firmly believes there is more we can do to enhance our service and offer even greater value add to both our domestic and commercial customers.

Due to our ambitious plans, we have taken the opportunity to bring in expert talent with fresh ideas to complement the depth of experience on the team.

Food

Q. What is your background?

A. My journey to the boardroom started on the shop floor, picking for a logistics company. Since then, I’ve worked in several logistics businesses, working my way up through the ranks, from smaller local operations through to global distribution businesses. I didn’t start out with the ambition to aim for the top job, but I was lucky enough to have people around me who championed me and believed in my potential, even at points when I did not. As a female in a male-dominated industry, I did always question ‘why not?’ if I was told that I couldn’t do something, which I hope has changed the perceptions of some of the people around me and inspired others to achieve their potential. I love to work in businesses where the team is at the forefront, and I have found this at Boughey, where there is a real entrepreneurial spirit and I have great colleagues who complement my skill set.

Q. What do you do at NWF?

A. We have a team of nearly 800 colleagues and I am responsible for leading them to safely deliver an on time, in full (‘OTIF’) service and have a little bit of fun whilst doing it! Our people and culture feature at the very heart of what we do and I’ve been keen to empower my team with the freedom and creativity for us to drive innovation and growth. My day-to-day responsibilities can be varied, from media work to promote the business and visiting customers, to presenting our exciting new strategy to the NWF Group plc Board.

Q. What does the future look like for your business?

A. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved at both revenue and headline PBT levels and I’m excited about what the future holds for us. Since I’ve been with the business, we’ve increased our revenue year-on-year and set an ambitious but achievable growth strategy. Alongside my senior management team, we have recently had our ambitious five-year strategy approved which will enable the business to grow over the coming years. We acknowledge that we operate in a challenging industry with an uncertain economic backdrop, but we are confident that our plans are achievable and we can navigate the path forward.

Feed

Q. What is your background?

A. I’ve got a degree in business management and I spent the first six years of my working life in a finance team as a management accountant. My role, which was aligned closely with operations, allowed me to challenge the team on factory performance from a financial perspective, and it was soon identified that my skill set was a strong operational one. I was given the opportunity to explore my potential through moving into factory management and worked my way up to Supply Chain Director, overseeing acquisitions and, ultimately, the sale of that business to a larger organisation. I worked across the acquiring group in a general management role, achieving operational excellence in a continuously changing business. The opportunity then arose to join the Feeds business at NWF Group plc, which was an exciting opportunity for me.

Q. What do you do at NWF?

A. I joined NWF Agriculture eight years ago and I love the challenge and strategic vision required to meet the ever changing demands of our fast moving customers. I introduced Productive Industries’ Brilliant Basics and Vital Few, which we use to continuously improve processes to drive efficiencies to grow the business, as well as the Feeds Sales Academy in 2018 to train the in-field technical experts of the future that our business requires to grow.

On a day-to-day basis, my focus is on ensuring that quality and performance are measured, and that our teams are working in safe spaces. Health and safety has been a key focus of mine over the last year, with the introduction and embedding of a zero-harm approach, and evolving how we report our metrics through near miss reporting.

Q. What does the future look like for your business?

A. I’m proud of what we have achieved over the past year, which wouldn’t have happened without our people, who we continue to make sure are safe and engaged and feel valued. We operate in a large, stable market, but recognise that the expectations around food standards continue to increase, with sustainability playing a significant part. We will continuously look to innovate to ensure that our offering exceeds the evolving needs of our customers, whilst ensuring the basics around quality and H&S are maintained.