Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based VP’ operating in the Food and Beverage space. If you think a VP’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Lucy Brady
Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development of McDonald’s
Lucy Brady has been named Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Business Development at McDonald’s Corporation since September 2016. Ms. Brady joins McDonald’s in September and oversees strategy development, planning and innovation to drive growth for it. As a Senior Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group she led several turnaround and strategic growth initiatives.
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About McDonald’s: McDonald’s is a global foodservice retailer generating revenue through company-owned restaurants, franchise royalties, and licensing pacts.
Mark Cooper
Vice President and Managing Director, Avery Europe and Asia Pacific of CCL Industries
Mark Cooper is a Vice President and Managing Director, Avery Europe and Asia Pacific at CCL Industries.
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About Avery, CCL Industries: CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides innovative solutions.
Jamie Robinson
Vice President and Managing Director, Home & Personal Care Europe of CCL Industries
Jamie Robinson is a Vice President and Managing Director, Home & Personal Care Europe at CCL Industries.
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About CCL Industries: CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides innovative solutions.
Alex Owens
VP, Global Head of Data & Analytics of Unilever
Alex is currently CMI Vice President, Global Head of People Data Centres, AI & Data Governance at Unilever based in London. Prior to joining Unilever, he was Head of Insight & Analytics at Sainsbury’s and had joint accountability for the Nectar relationship. Previous to this, Alex had numerous Insight/Strategy and Analytics roles in Banking and Media. He started his career over 20 years ago at Millward Brown as Research Manager working across a range of large international FMCG clients e.g. Guinness Africa. After Millward Brown, Alex moved to the BBC where he formed part of the team that developed BBCi Player back in 2000 before moving to support the launch of Freeview. He then moved to BskyB during James Murdoch’s first reign before spending 5 years in banking, first with Capital One and then as Head of Strategy at Lloyds Banking Group. Alex earned a first class honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business & Economics from Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordons University.
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Patrick Hull
VP Future of Work of Unilever
Patrick Hull serves as the VP of Future of Work at Unilever.
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Bobby Ford
Vice President/Global CISO of Unilever
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Sarah Mansfield
VP Global Media Europe & Americas of Unilever
Sarah Mansfield has started at Unilever in June 2012. She is responsible for the European, North and South America Media Function supporting the local markets in best in class media plans and capabilities. Previously Sarah led Marketing Services for Unilever’s UK & Ireland business covering media and communications planning and implementation, digital best practice and brand PR. Prior to this Sarah held various roles at Barclays Bank PLC, the most recent as Global Head of Communications and Media at Barclaycard and previously as Head of Innovation Marketing responsible for launching new propositions such as contactless payments, mobile payments to the UK. Sarah has extensive media, communications and digital marketing experience across a number of industry sectors having also worked at various integrated agencies in account management and planning roles. Sarah studied in Sheffield and has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and Marketing. In her spare time she enjoys running as well as music, playing the violin in a local orchestra.
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Nicky Clement
Vice President HR, Organisation Effectiveness & People Analytics of Unilever
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Martin Dempster
VP of Innovation of BrewDog
Head of the mysterious ‘Special Ops’ department at BrewDog, Dempster enjoys nothing more than a good kitten jumper and researching the lives of historical Dundonians.
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About BrewDog: BrewDog is a craft beer brewery that produces bottled and canned beers in a variety of styles.
Sam Jones
Vice President of Torch Capital
Sam Jones serves as the Vice President at Torch Capital.
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About Torch Capital: Torch Capital is an early-stage consumer-focused venture capital firm.
Iain McNeill
VP Digital Product of Gousto
Iain McNeill serves as vice president of digital product at Gousto.
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About Gousto: Gousto is an online meal-kit manufacturer and retailer, using AI and automation to provide extensive choice and personalisation.
Charles Whitehead
VP of Operations of Gousto
Charles Whitehead serves as vice president of operations at Gousto.
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About Gousto: Gousto is an online meal-kit manufacturer and retailer, using AI and automation to provide extensive choice and personalisation.
Hubert Patricot
Executive Vice President and President, European Group of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Stephen Moorhouse
Vice President, General Manager – Northern Europe of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Scott Bourgeois
Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Group Controller of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Nik Jhangiani
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Leendert Den Hollander
Vice President and General Manager of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Yvan De Boeck
VP of Engineering of Bevi
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About Bevi: Bevi is a smart water dispenser that customizes flavored and sparkling beverages on demand.
Andrew Lonergan
VP Sales and Marketing of Aspect Imaging
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About Aspect Imaging: World leader in the design and manufacture of compact, high-performance MRI & NMR systems offering Complete Point-of-Care MRI systems
Robbie Millar
VP, Global Marketing of Carlsberg Group
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About Carlsberg Group: Carlsberg produces and sells beer and other beverage products together with its subsidiaries.
Laura Brodie
Vice President/Director of Partnerships and External Relations of International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD)
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About International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD): International Alliance is a not-for-profit organization that addresses harmful drinking and promoting responsible drinking.
Gary Osborne
VP Engineering of Pyreos
Gary joined Pyreos in 2015 and is responsible for product development and customer support. His career started in R&D at UK computer pioneers Apricot. At digital TV specialists Pace he was Engineering Manager and later moved to M&A, Product Management covering EMEA and Asia-Pac, and Business Development. He has also held senior roles with US tech giant EchoStar, being responsible for key innovative products in new markets.
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About Pyreos: Pyreos develops and supplies a specialised infra-red sensor platform.
