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

Absolute Recruit

We believe that great people and great jobs create amazing outcomes!

At Absolute, we make vital connections, creating inclusive workforces that drive progress. We do this by utilising our expertise to uncover talent and build high-performance teams.

Absolute Recruit is made up of three specialist divisions: Accounting & Finance, IT & Tech and HR. Our specialist teams operate across all levels from graduate through too senior & executive appointments. The teams cover Permanent, Interim & Contract solutions across London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire & Essex

The Absolute Way is simple. Consistency of service and our ethos of building long-term relationships, are at the core of everything we do.

Absolute was founded with the vision of creating an approachable, high-performing agency, built on a foundation of strong candidate and client partnerships. The strength of our relationships encourage openness and honesty, which is key when looking to move roles. We provide our team with the tools and freedom to do this, and to create an environment where they feel fulfilled, supported and happy! Our focus is to provide quality over quantity, and our aim is to never stop learning!

Interim & Contract: Finance, Accounting & Transformation

Business and Operations Manager 

Primo Select ( merged with Absolute Recruitment Group)

Primo Select are specialists in our markets. We are an independent recruitment & advisory business focused on providing the highest calibre talent across two key verticals: “Finance & Accounting” and “HR & People Operations”. 

Operating predominantly across London & Home Counties, we do not believe in a “one-size” fits all approach and recognise that every organisation, individual or scenario requires a carefully tailored solution. All of our offerings are designed around establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships and genuine short, medium- & long-term trusted partnerships. 

Our combined Discovery & Delivery methodology allows us to not only select the best talent, but gets to the heart of your business. We want to understand your challenges, pains, successes and ambitions! We heavily utilise technology, using our video “PrimoVid” tech allows our job hunters to present themselves effectively and clients to assess applicants on more than just a CV. 

Primo Select create a far more interpersonal experience and aspire to change how you think about hiring!

Founder & Director 

Accountancy Action

Senior Manager

KennedyPearce Consulting

KennedyPearce Consulting is a recruitment business focusing on high calibre hires across the following areas: Accounting & Finance, Professional Services, HR & Executive Support and Specialised Markets.

During this time I was responsible for managing & driving our Qualified Finance & Accounting function across Commerce & Industry. Specialising in permanent accountancy roles for Qualified level candidates. Roles including, Business Analysts, Management Accountants, Financial Accountants, Finance Managers, Finance Business Partners, FP&A, Financial Controllers, Finance Directors and CFOs.

Commerce & Industry - Qualified F&A - Manager

Robert Half Finance & Accounting

Division Manager - City & East

Permanent Recruitment Consultant

Temporary Recruitment Consultant

Adam Clifft

We offer football coaching for children aged 4-15 years old in a fun, safe and fully supervised environment. We pride ourselves on our expert football coaching, but we also believe that above all your child should enjoy their time at football school whilst getting exercise and learning new football skills and discipline. 

Our London football academy can offer a range of classes for your children to attend, with Saturday and weekday football school classes, a football party service and Easter/summer 1-week football academy programs. 

At Adam Clifft School of Soccer all our senior staff are fully FA coaching qualified, and we ensure that children at our soccer schools and football parties are never left unsupervised so your children can get the most out of their football training and parents can be safe in the knowledge that their children will be looked after properly.

Head Football Coach

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩...

I partner with Founders and Business Leaders and Senior Finance professionals, helping them solve short to mid term needs. 

I specialise in placing Interim & Contract Finance Professionals across Start-ups/ SMEs and Large corporates. Typically working on provide solutions for Maternity/Paternity Cover, Project work, Work-overload or a Stop-Gap whilst you hire a permanent head. 

Our interim & contract team covers all levels from graduate through to C-Suite but I personally focus on the following areas: 
𝗖-𝗦𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 & 𝗘𝗫𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛 🧮𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 & 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 (𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗)  🧮 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 & 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 🧮 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 & 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 (𝗡𝗢𝗡-𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗)

𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦 & 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦-𝗨𝗣𝗦
✔ Introductions to Venture capitalists for potential investment
✔ Access to specialist advice across our disciplines
✔ C-Level & Executive Hires
✔ Creation & Structure of Finance Teams
✔ Scaling teams post-investment & hiring strategy

𝗩𝗖 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗦
✔ Introductions to new founders and start-ups seeking investment
✔ Support and operate as a recruitment partner for your portfolio 

𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 
✔ Exclusive & retained recruitment services from graduate to C-Level to help you identify, secure and 
      retain top talent
✔ Advice & consultation on Hiring Strategies, inclusive of candidate attraction and interview process
✔ Advice & consultation on team structures, salary benchmarking and much more. 

Whether you are an established business, a pre-seed startup 🌱 or looking to scale post-investment🚀,  I can potentially help! 

     👇🏼For advice on your hiring needs, hiring strategy or scaling & investment, please contact me on 👇🏼

                                                            📧 joshua@absolute-recruit.com
                                                                          📱 07931 368 797
                                                                    Instagram: therecruiterjm

taplio

The Battle

Ben Kaye

Joshua Morris

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?