Ben Kaye

SURREAL

Gimme a sec to settle into the role, and then I'll tell you what I've been up to!

Category & Commercial Manager

Spin Tennis App

• Drew up an events plan to add an additional USP and revenue stream for Spin Tennis App
• Creating and hosting events to further engagement within the Spin Tennis Community
• Sourcing venues to deliver an enjoyable experience for Spin members
• Initial events in 2025 have had 100+ attendees with a positive experience and demand for further events

Event Manager

2 Sisters Food Group

Category Manager within the Poultry division, working across a variety of retail customers:
• Responsible for analysis of all protein space & sales performance for a large convenience retailer, helping deliver "the best presentation across the supply base" (retail buyer), resulting in 20% incremental space and additional SKUs worth £m of pounds to the business
• Led and delivered the development of best-in-class insights reporting website, delivering the team’s category insight, in-store reports and data analysis all in one centralised place for customers
• Produced comprehensive consumer insight report to assist retailers in understanding Christmas purchase decisions
• Used data and analytics skills to redesign and rebuild the Co-op Sales Reporting process to give more profound and more powerful insights to the commercial team, resulting in the award of Employee of the Month
• Led the delivery of category insights for BBQ Season 2024, featuring new image-based market maps

Category Manager

Well Fruited

Co-founder of a drinks brand that used product innovation and fun to address the fact that only 28% of adults consume 5 portions of fruit & veg a day.

Some key accomplishments:
• Co-created the first fruit drink made using all of the fruit, designed to maximise fibre and nutrient content, whilst limiting sugar impact
• Bootstrapped the business through initial product testing phases by using self-taught skills such as web design, branding, financial modelling & prototyping
• Sold over 5,000 bottles as part of initial testing phase, through various channels such as D2C, B2B and live events
• 7m video views across TikTok, YouTube & Instagram
•Charted the growth of the brand alongside my insights into what makes a consumer-business stand out

Co-Founder & CEO

Unrest

Participated in the programme to help strengthen the foundations of the business and fuel the growth of the Well Fruited brand.

As part of the programme:
- Refined our Pitch Deck & proposition
-Built out Financial Projections & models
- Refined brand strategy
- Engaged in the wider Unrest community

Entrepreneur at Unrest (London)

Year Here

Working on solutions to societal problems to deliver positive impact and social change.

Mar - August 2021: Population Health Team, Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership. Projects included:
• Project Best Start: analysing data to build a profile of young people within Tower Hamlets and help inform decisions on how to give every child the best start in life
• Project Ways of Working: delivered a report that assessed ways of working across the Health Partnership, with recommendations on how to improve ways of working across areas such as meetings, project management and document sharing
• Project Talking Food: organised and facilitated sessions around nutrition and healthy diet for local community members to help improve wellbeing, which results in some "life-changing" results

Sep - Oct 2021: Consultant on a project for Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation around equitable and representative employment for the local area

Social Innovation Fellow

Bakkavor

Working across UK & Ireland on one of the UK's largest retailers on multiple fresh prepared food categories.

Role included delivering first-to-market innovation, long-term strategic planning, stakeholder management, building customer relationships and commercial analysis.

Key accomplishments:
• Shortlisted for Bakkavor Group Innovation Awards for work on Post-Launch Review Process
• Led the introduction of a new software tool to deliver faster, more accurate and in-depth sales reporting on a weekly basis to transform the way the sales teams reported on performance, whilst saving countless hours of data collection
• Worked on a bespoke strategy for Tesco Ireland to adapt offerings to fit the market need, resulting in cutting wastage by 20%
• Launched new product ranges across multiple retailers, cuisines and tiers, worth over £10m in annual sales revenue

Testimonials:
• Attention to detail is fantastic and it’s been a great support

Commercial Manager

Managing key retailer accounts across a variety of Fresh Prepared Foods categories to deliver first to market innovation and profitable business growth.

Responsible for Category Strategy, Promotional Planning and International Projects, achieved through cross-functional working and a commitment to innovative and new working practices.

Key accomplishments:
• Improved forecasting accuracy by c.15%pt through the creation and implementation of an analysis tool
• Established a clear set of category information documentation that enabled the team to become category pioneers through easy-to-access information on product & promotional performance
• Grew an e-commerce account 28% YOY, ahead of the growth trajectory for the retailer overall
• Improve margin performance of at-risk lines through Product Development work to recover of £50k p/a

Testimonials:
Ben is a self-starter and is constantly looking at avenues and ways to add value to the business. 
He has proactively volunteered for add on projects and has been working with grit and determination on PLR (Post Launch Review) project which has been identified as a big opportunity.

Account Manager

Part of the Commercial Team, working directly with two of the UK's largest retailers and a wide range of various stakeholders.

Worked across a variety of Fresh Prepared Foods categories on both projects with retailers and supplier-related projects. This has included forecasting, promotional activity, category management and using specific data sources and systems.

Key achievements:
• Winner of Graduate's Graduate Award (2018) for contribution to the business and experience of graduates on the programme
• Won monthly innovation award for leading a project to save M&S over £1m in food waste on their Italian ready meal category

Testimonials:
Ben has made an impressive start to his career at Bakkavor and is a pleasure to have on the team. His approach is humble, respectful, resilient and committed.

Commercial Graduate

Tesco

Primarily working on promotional strategy and ranging across the Plant-Based ranges within Fresh & Frozen. Helping to deliver double-digit growth in one of the emerging areas within the food industry.

Additionally assisted in the delivery of the 2019 Christmas Party Food Range.

Key accomplishments:
• Ranging recommendations delivered possible incremental sale of £31m and £14m margin for Tesco across chilled & frozen ranges
• Ensured timely launch of Christmas Party Food ranges to ensure all lines were correctly executed in-store

Product Analyst

The Holiday Place

Working in the Product Department which involves:
• Dealing with contracts with suppliers
• Content writing for the website
• Using the dedicated software to manage hotel and flight details

Administration Assistant

XpressionFM

I was:
• Head of Marketing at Xpression FM (www.xpression.fm)
• Xpression FM Saturday Sport Show pundit (www.facebook.com/xpressionsportshow)
• Producer of Highly A-Newsing (www.facebook.com/highlyanewsing)

Head of Marketing

💥 MY BACKGROUND
👨🏻‍💻 I work in Category Management across multiple customers, covering insights, sales analysis and consumer trends
🛒 I've worked with some of the UK's largest retailers on their own label ranges, launching over 100 products
📈 Focusing on sales growth, product assortment and category strategy
🍲 Seconded to work for the UK's largest food retailer in supporting the launch of two new brands
🍊Co-founder of Well Fruited; developing first-to-market innovation; a drink with half the sugar of a juice/smoothie, with 4k+ units sold and over 7m times across TikTok, Instagram & YouTube!
🎾 I once won the Junior Tennis Tournament at my local tennis club, so am always up for a game

💥 TESTIMONIALS
▶️ "The guys who created and make the product [Well Fruited] are extraordinary, they fully deserve the success coming their way!"
▶️ "Your ability to spot the smallest details in a giant spreadsheet of numbers is unreal"
▶️ "A deserved winner of Employee of the Month for going above and beyond in helping the team"

Feel free to connect with me to chat...or for a game of tennis 🤝

Co-Founder

Co-founder of a Food & drink brand using product innovation and fun to address the fact that only 28% of adults consume 5 portions of fruit & veg a day.

Some key accomplishments:
• Co-created the first fruit drink made using all of the fruit, designed to maximise fibre and nutrient content, whilst limiting sugar impact
• Bootstrapped the business through initial product testing phases by using self-taught skills such as web design, branding, financial modelling & prototyping
• 6m video views across TikTok, YouTube & Instagram
•Charting the growth of the brand alongside my insights into what makes a consumer-business stand out

Valor Advisory Limited

As a Fractional CFO, I help founder-led and growth stage businesses scale profitably and sustainably. If your business is growing but lacks financial clarity, cash flow stability or a scalable strategy, I bring the experience and structure you need.

I typically partner with CEOs and founders who:
- Are scaling fast but struggling with financial visibility and decision making
- Need financial models, forecasting and profitability strategies
- Are preparing for fundraising, investor relations or M&A
- Want to align finance and operations to improve efficiency and execution

Founder & CEO

Apeal Wörld ACV

Fractional CFO

Focused For Business

Startup CFO Mentor

Digital Boost

Supporting startup founders with finance and operations challenges

Volunteer Startup Mentor

DRYDRINKER LTD

As Managing Director, I focused on driving growth and transforming operations for a specialist eCommerce retailer in the low- and no-alcohol sector. Through data-led strategies, I delivered strong revenue growth while improving customer retention and gross profit margins. I also introduced new pricing tools and inventory systems, reducing stockouts and creating scalable processes to set the business up for long-term success.

A key part of my role was enhancing the customer experience. I led a website redesign and rebuild based on customer insights, which increased revenue per visitor and improved usability. I also scaled email-driven revenue with segmentation strategies that delivered standout open rates and grew the database. Launching a personalised product finder quiz was another highlight, doubling conversion rates. Alongside this, I built and led a high-performing remote team, ensuring collaboration and innovation were at the heart of everything we did.

MD / CFO

Consultant

PhomoUK

In 2020, I founded Phomo, inspired by my love for Vietnamese cuisine and a passion for creating memorable food experiences. I developed a range of Vietnamese meal kits, sauces, and broths, taking them from concept to premium retailers like Selfridges, Whole Foods, and Harvey Nichols.

Starting as a D2C brand, I built Phomo from the ground up, managing everything from product development and supply chains to marketing and customer engagement. While launching in retail was a proud milestone, the challenges of scaling in such a competitive and resource-heavy market meant the business couldn’t fully realise its potential. Despite this, the experience was invaluable, teaching me so much about scaling a brand, navigating the F&B industry, and building loyal customer relationships.

Marubeni Corporation

I was responsible for identifying, developing and structuring renewable energy investments in Europe and CIS through acquisition, partnerships or joint development agreements. 

I led the commercial and financing aspects of these investments including structuring and sourcing effective project finance solutions.

Senior Business Development Manager

NORD/LB

I was responsible for the origination, debt structuring and execution of renewable energy project finance transactions across Europe.

I had a strong focus on onshore and offshore wind farms and solar parks however we also have experience in other renewable technologies (hydro, biomass, wave and tidal)

Director

Financing renewable energy projects throughout Europe. We have an expertise in financing onshore wind projects as well as financing solar, offshore wind and biofuels projects.

I work in the Origination team sourcing and executing Sole Mandated Lead Arranger roles.

Associate Director, Energy Project Finance

Platina Finance Ltd

Platina Finance Limited is managing and advising dedicated funds investing in renewable energy projects. The Mistral funds invest in a number of wind farm development projects throughout Europe and operate a portfolio of wind farms in France and the United Kingdom.

Investment Manager

Fortis Bank

At Fortis I was responsible for analysing Energy projects in the UK and Renewable Energy projects in Europe. Fortis has particular expertise in wind financing within the team and I gained specialised knowledge of waste and biofuels projects. My role included new business sourcing, credit analysis and financial modelling.

Assistant Director, Energy Project Finance

I’m an ex-founder turned Fractional CFO for start ups and scale ups. 

I help founders understand their numbers, the levers that affect them and how to pull each one to drive results.

I spent 20 years in banking before realising that strategy without execution is useless. I wanted to be in the trenches, not watching from the sidelines - so I left to build and scale businesses myself.

Since then, I’ve:

✔ Raised £1m in equity funding across two ecommerce businesses.
✔ Founded and led my business Phomo from inception to major retailer listings (Whole Foods, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols).
✔ Built financials models for investment and operations including a pricing and margin strategy to improve gross profit margins by 20% for one client

When I work with founders, I don’t just tell you what to do - I do it with you. Whether it’s fixing cash flow, optimising pricing or giving you data driven tools to succeed, I help you cut through the chaos and build a business that actually works.

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Ben Kaye

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