Toll Group

Supporting the smooth flow of global drinks logistics.

Vice President Vertical Sales, Liquid - UK

The Worshipful Company of Distillers

Committee Chair, Steward

ewan lacey.com

Working with people and teams to make life and business better.

Some clients also hired me for senior positions.

Clients include:
Goldman Sachs
HSBC Private Bank
Marble Bar
Jascots Wine Merchants
IWSC Group
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics
ProWein
Mirror Group
BBC London
Kavalan
Channel 4
Daily Telegraph
NRS Healthcare
YO!Sushi
Penfold’s
Armand de Brignac
LIDL Foodstores
PWC
Commodity Business Awards
GLG
Jamie Oliver Fabulous Feasts

Commitment 

Many individual founders, business owners and successful executives all the way up to the C-suite.

Founder

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics

As a Global Director – Beverage Logistics, I was responsible for:
Leding teams involved in both origin/destination of trade, while facilitating bilateral transactions and addressing client concerns related to prevailing logistical challenges in market, such as Brexit changes, pricing instability, and space availability; promoting to position of Global Director after providing interim support to business for a period of three years; overseeing strategic planning and managing relationships with key clients, such as Concha y Toro, The Co-Op, The Wine Society, Adnams, and Hallgarten; entrusting with task of driving strategic sales in global beverage logistics sector, while engaging with diverse portfolio of large international customers and renowned brands in the market/fostering collaborative relationships with key stakeholders.
My key highlights in this role include:
• Enhanced skillsets and increased capabilities by restructuring and reorganising of UK beverage team.
• Improved overall responsiveness to client requirements by introducing key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Achieved 20% improvement in productivity by consolidating team under one roof/fostering solid work environment.
• Reduced 30% cost of overhead expenses by merging two separate offices into single environment for UK business.

Global Director - Beverage Logistics

I served as Interim Operations Director – Beverage Logistics and was accountable for:
Providing direct leadership and oversight to beverage logistics teams across multiple countries, including UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Chile, and Argentina; cultivating strong relationships between global offices and clients to assure delivery of exceptional customer experiences.
My key successes during this role were:
• Drove impressive 25% increase in business unit turnover by achieving significant £50m growth from 2017 to 2021.
• Played pivotal role in development and coordination of highly profitable wine and spirit competition logistics business.
• Elevated EBITDA performance of UK business by transforming break-even state to achieving remarkable 17% revenue.
• Streamlined operations by merging two offices into a single location, delivering substantial cost savings of 30% on overhead expenses.
• Ensured continued competitiveness by redesigning product offerings for key routes, such as Italy-UK and Latin America-UK in response to price fluctuations.
• Exceeded £50M sales revenues/turnover by completing profit/loss (P&L) business leadership, assuming responsibility for strategic sales, business development, and day-to-day supervision of ten global offices.
• Realised £220k profit by demonstrating exceptional performance and achieving 25% increase in revenue across global competitions including Decanter, International Wine Challenge, and International Wine/Spirit Competition.

Interim Operations Director - Beverage Logistics

IWSC Group Ltd

I performed as Managing Director, and my responsibilities include:
Managing day-to-day business operations, including coordinating the customer journey, maintaining quality performance, overseeing technical and assessment procedures, and collaborating with diverse team of industry experts; overseeing team of six direct reports and administered total headcount of 22 FTEs.
My signature achievements were the following:
• Achieved a significant revenue increase of 35% from 2013 to 2017.
• Enhanced EBITDA performance from 17% to 27% by demonstrating substantial improvement in financial results.
• Developed and executed business strategies for the group companies by aligning with ambitious growth objectives.

Managing Director

During my tenure as Interim General Manager, I have finalized multiple tasks related to:
Holding full accountability for diverse portfolio of group companies, including International Wine and Spirit Competition; Strategically formulating and implemented business plans for the group companies, while effectively managing high turnover; leading and directing portfolio of over 16 consumer/trade events at prominent venues such as The Oval, The Carlton Club, Truman Brewery, and The Guildhall.
The following were my key contributions:
• Orchestrated end-to-end project lifecycle management and delivery by encompassing project planning, scope definition, budgeting, and risk management.
• Demonstrated comprehensive business leadership by assuming responsibility for all aspects of P&L, driving strategic direction, vision, and continued growth of organisation.
• Ensued exceptional client experiences and provide internal employees with ample opportunities for professional development by fostering engagement throughout organisation.

Interim General Manager

ewanlacey.com

Director, Business Consultant, Ewanlacey.com
Operations Manager, Wine of the Times
General Manager, Café Med, Notting Hill
Operations Manager, YO! Sushi
Property Manager, Lidl Foodstores Gmbh
Steward of The Worshipful Company of Distillers & Chair of Marketing Committee
Part of the ‘Distillers One of One Team, Distillers
Drinks Expert, James Martin Saturday Morning & Channel 4 Television
Drinks Industry Commentator, Channel 5 Sky News
Drinks Writer, Sunday Mirror; Daily Telegraph, Women & Home
Regular Guest & Contributor, BBC Radio

Additional Experience

With 20+ years of experience in the drinks industry I am still excited by chasing inefficiency out and bringing sustainability and good sense in.

Ewan Lacey

Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK

Managed a team of 10 skilled team players in this specialised division for the Group. The team was fully multi-modal focusing on our customers specific and delicate movement of beverages. We specialised in wine, champagne, beer, whiskey, flavoured water and fruit juices. Our prime product was wine from the Old World and New World countries. I had the opportunity to re-build the team and organise them for superior customer experience. I was responsible for the P&L of this business and focused on margin growth as well as cost control in line with budget requirements. I looked after the top customers and up sold as well as new business growth.

•	Built relationships with top customers and ensure I understood their special requirements.
•	Managed relationships with all partners, sea, air, road and warehouses.
•	Strong focus on EBIT management.
•	Managed wine tasting competitions, by arranging wines from multiple origins to meet tight customer 
        deadlines.
•	Ensured that we met all import and export requirements through the government departments
•	Increased gross margins through effective pricing policies. Specific to the beverage sector

Branch Manager

Ace Express Freight

Prepare and execute an Air & Ocean strategy for the value stream for Ace Express Freight and our customers
Assist in the development and improvement of all planning solutions. 
Work closely with the airlines and shipping lines ensuring the supplier management processes are in operation and running efficiently.
Take ownership of any activities within the workstream and ensure best practice approach is developed to meet our customer’s needs.
Prepare and manage the budget, maintaining control over costs and operate within headcount
Responsible for creating and analysing KPI’s for the Value Stream.
Implement company processes in line with all GDP and regulatory compliance internally and with our external service providers.

Air & Ocean Value Stream Manager

Hellmann Africa

Translate ambitious vision into strategic plans to deliver short- and long-term growth within this €28mio monthly turnover international logistics business; making a sizeable impact on profitability, productivity and the enhancement of operational standards (accountable for 50% of Group national GP):
•	Facilitate business growth and operational optimisation via business plan development.
•	Prepare 18-month rolling forecast on Air, Sea and CLC business units.
•	Promote a focus on growth and EBT ratio improvement throughout all branch operations.

Key achievements
•	Managed relationships with top-twenty customers ranked by GP.
•	Delivered €25K p/a savings via national customs brokerage system change.
•	Improved staff performance and promoted talent development through creation and management of “People Development” initiative.
•	Managed customer retention with a focus on down traders and extension of existing business.
•	Consistently exceeded national sales targets, including entrepreneurial solutions in the Supply Chain.

General Manager

Kuehne + Nagel

Led regional business plan development, embedded compliance best practices and identified opportunities to grow district profitability. Coordinated and performance managed 120 FTEs while ensuring business remained adequately and professionally staffed.

Key achievements
•	Increased KZN district profitability by 20% in two years.
•	Cut losses 30% having created a Loss File Committee to create awareness and a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
•	Coordinated commercial projects, including initiatives to support customer retention.

District Manager - KwaZulu Natal

Compu-Clearing

Regional Manager - KZN

ICM Group (Pty) Ltd

Director

UTi Worldwide Inc.

Branch Management 

Specialties: Logistics professional 
Business Analyst
Supply Chain
Inventory Control Management
People Development
P&L reporting
Customer relationship management
Developing business
Continuous Improvement

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Ewan Lacey

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