NatWest Group

Research Consultant

Noggin The Brain People

🧠 Noggin The Brain People 🧠

Sainsbury's Bank

Head of Research, Planning & Brand

Head of Propositions & Innovation

Head of Customer Insight & Innovation

The Marketing Society Scotland

Chair Of Marketing Society Scotland

Heineken UK

Head Of CMI (Consumer & Market Intelligence)

Category Insights Controller

PepsiCo Intl

Consumer Insights For All PepsiCo Portfolio Of Beverage Brands across Western & Eastern Europe

European Consumer & Market Insights Director

PepsiCo

Worked on creating new International Trademarks for PepsiCo to play in exciting growing Asian beverage categories e.g. Healthy Whites (RTD Soymilk/Drinking Yoghurts) in China, India, Vietnam & Thailand.

Asia Regional Innovation Insights Manager

Quorn Foods

Consumer & market insights for the Quorn brand.

Consumer Insight Manager

Procter & Gamble

Consumer & Product Researcher Working In Skin Beauty Care (Oil Of Olay).

Products Research

🧠 Noggin - helping improve the cognitive health of the nation 🧠 | P&G | PepsiCo | Heineken | Sainsbury's |

I have over 25 years of insight, marketing, and innovation leadership experience in FMCG and FS sectors, I know, I don't look THAT old.

I've enjoyed working for some of the world's leading brands in various categories (health & beauty, food & beverages & financial services) and regions, delivering impactful consumer and market intelligence, brand strategy, and product innovation. My time spent working on Oil Of Olay made me my mum's favourite son.

Currently, I'm a research consultant at NatWest Group, where I'm supporting the bank's customer, technology and data-driven approach to enhancing its products and services. 

I'm a co-founder at Noggin The Brain People, on a mission to improve the cognitive health of the nation & founding investor in Gutzy Organic which makes having a healthy, happy gut, fun and easy. Active investor in the technology & health & wellness arena.

I'm a former chair and current fellow of the Marketing Society in Scotland.

Mick Doran

'What we fail to notice quietly shapes what we fail to do.'


My latest What I Underlined book review The Marketing Society Scotland

https://lnkd.in/e8UKwjqZ

#discovery #useyournoggin #marketing

We need to anticipate better.



It was Drucker who said "The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic"

And if we're honest, lots of us are doing just this. 

I have an ask / request .... 

What's shaped your thinking on this?

Books, courses, people to follow, tools you actually use for strategic foresight?

Drop them below. I'll compile everything and share it back.

Thank you in advance, please share as I'd like to get a diverse viewpoint. 🙏🏽


#StrategicForesight #FuturesThinking #UsingYourNoggin

Credibility is overrated. Seriously. 

#nofluff #training #2026goals

If work feels exhausting, it’s probably not because you’re working too hard.


But it might be because your brain never gets to switch off.

Most corporate work doesn’t tire people out with effort.

It tires them out with constant cognition. Think about it ....

Notifications.

Messages.

Decisions that feel almost too small to matter, but never stop coming.

We’ve seem to have built jobs that demand continuous attention without recovery, and then act surprised when people feel drained by mid-afternoon.

Our noggins didn’t evolve for that.

They work best in bursts .... focus, effort, rest, and ready to go again.

Work used to have more boundaries, but now it just leaks into everything.

Somewhere along the way, most also confused being busy with doing good thinking.

Fast replies.

Full calendars.

Visible responsiveness.

But clarity comes from giving the appropriate space to THINKING.

Many organisational systems are optimised for efficiency and scale. Not a bad thing mind.

However, let's not forget that human brains need context, meaning and recovery.

When those don’t line up, the system might keep running but the people absorb the cost.

Which is why so many well intentioned fixes fall flat.

We tell people to be more resilient.

We add wellbeing initiatives on top of overloaded days.

We introduce new tools that promise efficiency and quietly add another layer of 'mental noise'.

The organisations doing better are taking a different approach.

They’re reducing unnecessary decisions.

Protecting thinking time.

Simplifying priorities.

Rewarding clarity, not constant availability.

Because recovery shouldn't be an afterthought.

It’s a performance input really.

so this year, remember this ....

Burnout isn’t normally a failure of people, it’s a failure of systems....

and Tony Schwartz puts it's brilliantly

The no.1 enemy of performance is not stress. It’s the absence of recovery.

Look after your noggin, so it can look after you.

#productivity #useyournoggin #brainhealth #cognition

Denholm Associates

Marketing Talent Consultant

Customer journey mapping (candidates and client journeys). Marketing automation processes. Nurture pathways. Email comms. Marketing compliance. Marketing and growth consultancy.

Marketing Consultant

Marketing Consulting Limited

I am passionate about helping transform small businesses into scalable growth machines. And an effective and efficient Marketing and Commercial function will be a crucial driver of that growth. 

With your collaboration, I will lead, coach, facilitate, and guide you and your employees. I will offer a lateral approach to thinking about your business. I will be challenging and provide a healthy level of conflict to drive results. But I will do this while keeping measured, light-hearted, and compassionate. 

My focus lies in working with ethical businesses that genuinely care about the well-being of their employees. They are authentically willing to get their Executive and Leadership teams aligned and united, trustworthy, and ready to conflict well. (If you aren't quite there and would like to be, I can help you on your journey!)

I enjoy working with passionate owners and leaders who strive to obtain a clear mission for their business, something everyone can rally behind. Those who care deeply about internal and external customers can expect great results. 


Areas of support: 
**Fractional or interim Growth or Marketing Leadership
**Business Growth and Marketing consultancy - audits, recommendations, and projects
**OKR setting and implementation (ongoing analysis)
**Go-to-Market Strategy and Implementation 
**Cross-functional team leadership
**Recruitment, team skills development, coaching, and leadership 
**Budget, target setting, forecasting, and commercial reporting 
**Commercial processes, funnel setup, lead scoring, nurture pathways 
**Martech setup, audit, and optimisation
**Research, persona development, data interrogation, and customer insights
**Digital channel setup, audit, or optimisation- website and marketing channels (Organic, PR, Paid Media, Social, Referrals, Resellers, and Partnerships)
**Brand, Tone of Voice, Creative, and Content-driven execution

Visit www.marketingconsulting.io for more information.

Growth Marketing Consultant - Fractional CMO services

Caddie Marketing Ltd

Fractional Growth Consultant for Caddie Marketing Ltd.
Customer Research
Process Optimisation
CRM development
Internal Operations
Creating company values, vision, North Star Metric, OKRs
Mentoring and Coaching
Experimentation and Agile Sprints
Go To Market Strategy
Growth Activities
Driving Revenue
Reviewing Budgets and Cash Flow Forecasting

Growth Consultant (and Advisory Role)

Ahead Business Consulting

Marketing Consultant - Fractional Head of Marketing

ResDiary

Regional Head of Growth for UK and Europe 

Float Cash Flow Forecasting

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

Director of Marketing

Emerald Works 

Marketing Leader on the Senior Leadership Team at Emerald Works, formerly GoodPractice, Mind Tools and Towards Maturity. Responsible for building the marketing strategy and team to play a critical role in the commercial growth of Emerald Works on a global scale. Ownership for brand and customer experience, lead generation, and effective nurture pathways and journeys to sale, retention and loyalty. 

Responsible for leading a team of 8 people and a range of marketing channels within the B2B (corporate) learning and development sector: SEO, paid social, events, partnerships, email, social, direct and PR. Analytics and insights in relation to driving the brand forward in this competitive space, utilising CRM, google analytics etc. Full end to end marketing - strategy, planning, budget, implementation and measuring ROI. Collaborating externally with brand and digital agencies. 

Since June 2018 I've set up a brand new marketing function and hired 7 new team members (the team was originally 12, but 3 formed a new data driven department): SalesForce analysts, Marketing analysts, Campaign and Content Managers, Events Executives, Digital Marketing Managers and Design Creatives in order to operation as a fully functioning in house team. This platform has provided a sound basis for both UK and International growth. 

Current projects - major project to bring three businesses together and create a new brand: offering a new Learning Business on a global scale to the L&D industry - Emerald Works (launched 28th January 2020). Managing external brand consultancy and two internal creatives. SalesForce optimisations and data operating model; Sales and Marketing pipeline optimisation projects in conjunction with corporate sales; manage a content marketing team in house; web, CRO and SEO re-development project managing external agency and multitude of internal stakeholders (including management of digital marketing lead and their team)

Head Of Global Marketing

Ultimate Finance Group

Ultimate Finance is growing brand in the Alternative B2B Funding space, specifically for the SME market. I have responsibility for managing all digital channels within our corporate customer acquisition programme to accelerate the growth of our digital loans and more traditional invoice and asset finance products.

I have responsibility for and in 2017 have set up from scratch all new channels: affiliates, paid search, SEO, paid social, programmatic video, VOD, dynamic display and an email programme. This has involved bringing on board world class agencies, teams and processes, all underpinned by an analytics and a CRO programme set to data driven KPIs, generating insights and progressing towards attribution modelling. 

Key stakeholder management - with regular attendance to present at Exec meetings and a member of the Senior Management team, this is a pivotal role within a fast moving digitally progressive organisation.  Weekly CRO and trading meetings mean we are held continuously accountable for every part of the sales and marketing funnel,  monitoring all activity, scaling up and down based upon real time data and insights. 

Working with the Chief Marketing Officer to develop the Customer Relationship Management Programme within Ultimate Finance. I have been involved in the working group for transforming our data onto Dynamics 365 and campaign management tool Click Dimensions. 

I regularly liaise with customer experience, product and brand teams to continuously improve user journeys and lifetime value, as well as continuously striving to deliver a positive ROI.

Performance Marketing Manager

Senior Acquisition Marketing Manager Insurances

Marketing Governance Manager

Marketing Planning Manager

Responsible for all Direct Marketing across Sainsbury's Bank (email, direct mail, coupon at til); optimisation of channel through new technology; using best in class DM techniques (data segmentation, creative execution and post campaign analysis); test and learn programme; channel specific targets against CPA, ROI, NPV; managing key DM and Email agencies; stakeholder engagement with Sainsbury's, Nectar and Catalina; budget responsibility for channel and agency spend.

Direct Marketing Channel Manager

Macdonald Hotels

Responsible for marketing team; agency management; brand development; digital strategy; media schedule; website development; budget management; liaison with hotel managers and sales managers; delivery of national campaigns and facilitating local marketing campaign delivery with hotels.

Head of Marketing

I'm a Growth Marketing Consultant with over 20 years of experience, helping to scale small businesses by unearthing revenue potential and driving growth. I take an analytical, yet people-centric approach, to transforming businesses by deep diving into your data, undertaking customer research, reviewing your business ops, financial health, and cultural values, and transforming these into measurable objectives and key results. I aim to deliver a working Growth and Go-To-Market Strategy for your business, which I will help you execute and deliver. 

I am a professional Growth Marketer with over 20 years of experience, 14 years at a senior level, and the past five in C-suite Exec roles. A performance specialist with a strong data-led background in B2B and B2C tech-based SaaS businesses. I am especially effective in rapidly growing businesses and those preparing for an acquisition, merger, or further funding. 

Previously part of ResDiary's Exec Team leading the acquisition of ResDiary to Access Hospitality Group, whilst continuing to drive incremental growth for ResDiary by implementing a thought leadership Growth Strategy and strong demand generation plan. I coached and led a team of 8 Marketing Professionals across both B2C and B2B (ResDiary and Dish Cult) in the UK and Europe. 

Prior to that, I was Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Float (cash flow forecasting app), a C-suite member with responsibility for Sales and Marketing through to Customer Success. 

My latter experience is within the Financial, Hospitality, and Educational Technology space, and in particular SaaS. 

I am passionate about developing and growing the confidence and skills of other marketing professionals through coaching and mentoring. Interested in personal growth, combined with helping others, I am currently completing Teacher Training in Mindfulness - for both individuals in a personal and corporate setting. My ethos is around driving organisational change by ensuring people are at the forefront of that growth.

Keira Hodge

Marketing Strategy Reset Day early February - Marketing Leaders

Discovery Calls & What We’re Hearing...

It’s been brilliant reconnecting with the Marketing Leadership community through recent discovery calls. These conversations—especially with leaders in the SME space—are giving us real insight into where marketing leaders are struggling, where they want support, and what they need from a trusted peer network.

All of this is shaping our upcoming Marketing Leaders Strategy Day.

I’m thrilled to be co-hosting this dedicated day with Rebecca Hamilton (values driven human!), Founder of Big Brand Love. Rebecca brings 25+ years of marketing experience, including over 15 years in leadership roles. 

Together, we span B2B and B2C, SMEs and larger organisations, across multiple sectors. We share a deep commitment to our profession—and to supporting marketing leaders to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact.

What the Strategy Day will cover:
1. Practical marketing frameworks, tools, and templates to create clarity, alignment, momentum, and evidence-based growth
2. Total business alignment tools to join strategy, execution, and leadership thinking—and set the growth flywheel spinning
3. HI to AI and back again: Why marketing must lead the transition into an AI-enabled world
4. Creating space at the table: Why marketing must be at the top table—and how we build understanding, influence, and power for our teams and our profession

You’ll walk away with:
**A 2026 Marketing Planning Workbook
Clear goals and practical implementation plans you can act on quickly
**A 1:1 Action Recap Session to embed your plan
*"Peer-to-peer support via a mission-cohort whatsapp community group 
**A Fresh Perspectives Morning: a leadership reconnect walk two or three weeks later, supported by "Fresh Air Dave", Dave Stewart to check in, reflect, and reinforce progress (teas, coffees and breakfast rolls!) 

We have a few dates available, with early February (w/c 1 Feb) looking most likely. Places are already filling, and I have a few more discovery calls booked next week before we finalise dates and session details.

👉 DM me if you’re interested in joining us. Feel free to reach out to Rebecca too!
📍 Edinburgh | Gleneagles Townhouse (teas, coffees, lunch included).

Pic of me and Rebecca Hamilton first kicking around ideas last year. Other pics of yesterday at Gleneagles Townhouse, and on one of Dave's fabulous leadership walks!. We do promise fun 😊

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The Battle

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Keira Hodge

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