Key People

Neil Turton,  Chief Executive Officer, Nisa -Today’s

Neil has overall responsibility for developing the success of Nisa-Today’s and leads the executive team.

He began his career with Marks and Spencer, completing its management training scheme. Joining Nisa-Today’s in 1991 as a buyer, Neil has spent the last 17 years in a wide variety of roles at Nisa-Today’s, latterly as chief operating officer. In 2007, he was promoted to chief executive officer.

Neil has been a member of the Nisa-Today’s Holdings Board for eight years, is a Chartered Marketeer, a Graduate MBA and a Board member of the “Voice of Local Shops” - the Association of Convenience Stores. A passionate believer in independent retailing and wholesaling, Neil regularly speaks on industry issues and in each of the last three years (2005-2008), he has been named by The Grocer magazine as one of the top 10 most influential figures in UK community retailing.

John Schofield,  Chief Financial Officer, Nisa-Today’s

John joined the group in 1990 after leaving his own accountancy practice which he had run for eight years. John has over 30 years experience in accounting and finance and is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA). John has been an invaluable member of the Holdings Board for 14 years and is also a member of Nisa-Today’s Strategic Development & Acquisitions Committee and 2011 Distribution Contract Committee.

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Rodney Hunt,  Managing Director, The Today’s Group

Rodney has been with Nisa-Today’s for 25 years – sitting on the Holdings Board for eight - and joined Peter Garvin and Dudley Ramsden in the early days of the business, to assist in negotiating with suppliers and member recruitment.

At that time, Rodney had 10 years experience within both retail and wholesale trading, and was one of the pioneers of the retail industry, being part of the team that operated Britain’s first Hypermarket – Carrefour - in South Wales.

During his time with the Group, he has headed-up Central Distribution and Central Buying Company, but is best known for being at the helm of the Today’s Group since it was formed as the wholesale arm in 1987.

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John Sharpe,  Managing Director Central Distribution Trading & Logistics, Nisa-Today’s

John Sharpe joined Nisa-Today’s 18 years ago as frozen food controller, becoming managing director of Central Distribution Services in 2001, after fulfilling a number of other directorial roles within the Group.

He was appointed as managing director of Central Distribution Trading & Logistics in early 2006 and has been a member of the Holdings Board for five years.

Formerly with Booker for 10 years as buying and marketing controller, John has a wealth of knowledge in fresh and frozen food, covering strategy, development and implementation. In his current role, John is responsible for all aspects of Central Distribution Trading and the Group’s award-winning ambient and temperature-controlled supply chain.

John is a member of the 2011 Distribution Committee.

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Nick Barker, Trading Director: The Today’s Group

Nick joined Nisa-Today’s in 1987 and undertook a variety of roles within the company including Own Brand Director before becoming Wholesale Trading Director for the Today’s Group in 1998.

Previous to his role at Nisa-Today’s, Nick was a buyer for Nisa-Today’s member, Laws Stores, based in Gateshead.

Nick now leads a team of 13 negotiators and staff buying grocery, impulse, licensed non-edible grocery and foodservice products, on behalf of the Today’s Group.

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Barrie Breward, Group Marketing Director

As group marketing director Barrie’s role at Nisa-Today's involves creating and planning marketing strategies to help the group and its members’ progress in the competitive world of independent retailing.

Before joining Nisa-Today's Barrie worked for a number of Manchester Advertising Agencies during 1966-1971 in various positions ranging from Junior Visualiser, Visualiser and Studio Manager, to Art Director. In 1972, at the age of 25, he founded the Manchester-based agency Integrated Marketing and Advertising Limited, where he remained until 1994 in his capacity as Creative Director.

Barrie began working for Nisa-Today's in 1994 as a Marketing Consultant, progressing to his current position of Group Marketing Director in 1997. He is responsible for a team of 6 people in the marketing department.

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David Cullen, Corporate Events Director

David, as corporate events director, is responsible for the organisation of the meetings and events for Nisa-Today’s.

David began his retailing career in ‘Cullen's Stores’ - a regional multiple retail company based in the South East - working his way through the company to the position of buying director in 1971.Two years later, David became grocery division director for the company, responsible for the buying, central distribution and operation of 67 food stores. In 1984 David was made non-executive chairman of Nisa-Today’s, a role which he successfully held for over 11 years.

After his chairmanship David took up the position of corporate affairs director at Nisa-Today’s, organising all of the groups events, conferences, PR, legal affairs and member company relations before becoming corporate events director in 2007.

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John Heagney, Group Symbol Director

John’s key responsibility is the overall control of the Nisa Symbol group and is an area that he thoroughly enjoys – his main motivation being the delivery of highly successful outlets for the Nisa retail membership through the development of the group’s burgeoning Symbol stores – and having an eye for retail detail! John is also responsible for the Store Development Managers and Merchandisers.

Having many years experience in the retail trade, John joined Heagney’s – his family’s long established Teesside - based business - in 1970 where he progressed through the ranks to become managing director. Heagney’s joined Nisa in its first year of operation and was a member of Nisa for over twenty years.

In 2000 John joined Nisa-Today’s and now holds the position as Group Symbol director and has led the team for the past eight years. John is a member of Nisa-Today’s retail council and Symbol Group Development Committee.

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John Haigh

John is Nisa-Today’s first in-house company secretary & solicitor. He is a Barrister and graduate MBA with 30 years experience in corporate law, finance and HR. In his role, he acts as the company secretary to the Board of Nisa-Today’s (Holdings) Limited and solicitor and counsel to the company, providing advice to the Board and executives.

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Andrew Mouse, Group Sales Director

As group sales director, Andrew has overall responsibility for the development of Nisa-Today’s recruitment strategy, sales, member development and category management departments through a team of national account managers and business development managers.

Andrew has a wealth of experience in the retail sector which includes working at International Stores (Gateway) and Bernard Matthews Ltd for twenty-two years, where he held various senior sales roles.

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Wayne Swallow, IT Director

As IT director Wayne is responsible for a twenty five person IT team, controlling and managing all systems development, web based systems and applications, helpdesk, distribution solutions including RF and Voice, outsourcing and the majority of non-core activities such as hardware monitoring and maintenance. The latest addition includes the EPoS system- ePositive Store Solutions – being made available to all retail members.

Wayne joined Nisa-Today’s over nine years ago and has over 20 years experience in IT. He has experience in a wide variety of roles within the IT field including, IT operations, Network Administration, IT Project manager and General IT Management, all of which were held within the logistic and retail distribution industry.

The major focus for Wayne and the IT department in 2008 is instore systems which include the development of ePositive Store Solutions. Wayne is also a member of Nisa-Today’s ePositive member committee, the Symbol Group Development Committee and the National Regional Council.

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Deborah Broddle, Human Resources Manager

Deborah joined Nisa-Today’s as Human Resources manager in March 2008. She has a BA (Hons) degree in Languages For Business and is Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualified.

With over 16 years’ experience in generalist human resources management, Deborah previously held multi-site positions, predominantly within the manufacturing sector, across a range of leading brands including Betafence Ltd, MFI and MY Cartons.

Deborah is responsible for implementing the group’s human resources strategy and delivering a series of wide-ranging initiatives to meet the needs of the company and its employees. She also works closely with directors and senior managers to embed a culture of human resource excellence within the company.

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Becky Campbell, Head of Communications & Corporate Affairs

Becky Campbell has been with Nisa-Today’s for just over four years and has almost ten years experience in public relations and corporate communications. She has a BA (Hons) degree in public relations (pr) and has worked in the Asda press office and with a series of pr and marketing communications agencies representing a range of FMCG, retail and business-to-business clients.

Becky is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and in 2000 was awarded its ‘Young Communicator of the Year’ national accolade. She was also voted by industry magazine PR Week, as a ‘Young Face of 2001’. In addition, in her personal time, she has previously held the voluntary positions of press officer for the CIPR Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Committee and pr director for the Leeds Junior Chamber of Commerce. Becky leads the Nisa-Today’s communications team. She is responsible for the team itself, all pr and media relations activity, internal and external communications, strategy development, planning and implementation. She also leads corporate affairs for the group and is editor of ‘Your Consortium’ magazine.

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Mike Fitton, Head of Sales

Mike has 30 years experience in retail, most recently as Eurospar Development director at Spar wholesaler AF Blakemore, where he worked for two years. Previously, Mike was head of Retailer Support for Musgrave UK for nine years and has extensive knowledge of retailer development, national recruitment and field sales management.

Mike joined Nisa-Today’s in 2008 and is responsible for Nisa-Today's business development managers, retail recruitment and the development of existing members. He reports to the Group Sales Director, Andrew J Mouse.

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David Morris, Head of I.T

David graduated from Hull University in 1991 with a BA (Hons) degree in Software Engineering & Industrial Data Processing. He joined a major UK and international wholesaler in 1991 delivering IT consultancy.

In 1993 David joined Nisa-Today’s as IT Operations Manager and has progressed to his present position of head of IT, having been previously responsible for e-commerce and all technical infrastructure.

David has the day-to-day responsibility of managing all aspects of the support and availability of all operational IT systems and sits on the ePositive development committee and the IT development committee.

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James Roberts, Head of Commercial Operations & Member Service

James Roberts has 20 years experience in retailing, running his family’s business - Mike Roberts Foodstores - a Nisa member for 30 years.

James won the Supermarketing magazine and Dairy Crest Foods ‘30 under 30’ award in 1991 at the age of 21, which recognised the talents, creativity and achievements of young managers in the grocery retailing arena.

James served on the Central Distribution Services Board - later named the Nisa Retail Services Board - for five years and on the IT committee, Symbol Group committee and Supermarket store group. James served on Nisa-Today's Holding Board in 2005 and 2006.

James joined Nisa-Today’s in January 2007 as head of Commercial Operations & Member Service. He has operational responsibility for key accounts within the group and has strategic involvement in many areas of the business, using his retail experience to ensure operations remain close to sharp-end member requirements. James’ role also encompasses management responsibility for the Member Sales & Service team, the group’s printing department and office operations.

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Mike Russell, Head of Quality Assurance

Mike joined Essex County Council Trading Standards department in 1975 and by 1981 he had qualified as a Trading Standards Officer. He then joined Humberside County Council as a Trading Standards Officer based in Scunthorpe. In 1989 Mike was promoted to Senior Trading Standards officer based in Grimsby having specific responsibilities for advising companies on ISO 9001 as it has now become, department liaison with local business and responsible for the county’s Weights and Measures Standards.

Mike joined Nisa-Today’s in 1991 as Quality Assurance Manager to ensure the company complied with the new Food Safety Legislation and in particular in relation to the group’s ‘own label’ products. Mike has now managed the department for over 16 years.

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