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 18 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 nine 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, regularly speaks on industry issues and has been named by The Grocer magazine as one of the top 10 most influential figures in UK community retailing.

In 2009, Neil was elected by the ACS Board to become the chairman of the organisation.

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

John joined the group in 1991 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 16 years and is also a member of Nisa-Today’s Strategic Development & Acquisitions Committee and 2011 Distribution Contract Committee.

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Bill Laird,  Managing Director, The Today’s Group

Bill Laird joined the Today’s Group in March 2009 as managing director heading up a team of 15 people.

Bill has spent his entire career within the grocery and non-food sectors first working in store based management roles for Wm.Low and ASDA Stores followed by various field management roles at Texas Homecare, Woolworths PLC and Somerfield Stores. He worked at Midcounties Co-operative for seven years being promoted from group general manager to chief operating officer where he led a sustained period of growth and business change.

Bill joined the Today's Group from his own consultancy and has supported a number of UK retail and international foodservice organisations to develop and implement new strategic approaches within their various markets. He has a wealth of experience in senior management roles having spent the last 11 years working at Board level.

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

John Sharpe joined Nisa-Today’s over 20 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 eight 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.

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Nick Barker, Trading Director: The Today’s Group

Nick joined Nisa-Today’s in 1985 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 15 staff buying grocery, impulse, licensed non-edible grocery and foodservice products, on behalf of the Today’s Group.

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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, Company Secretary

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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Raj Krishan, Today’s Group Retail Development director

Raj joined the Today’s Group in March 2010 as retail development director.

Raj has worked in the retail and wholesale industry throughout his career, which has included time at A.F.Blakemore & Son Ltd and Landmark Wholesale where he was responsible for the development of Hot House, Lifestyle Express and Drinks Express fascias. His contribution to the success of the Lifestyle concept was recognised by the industry, the highlight of which was his FWD Gold Medal award for service to retailers.

His key role within the Today’s Group is the development of the Today’s Extra and Today’s Local fascia for and on the behalf of existing wholesale members. This presents a very significant opportunity for the Group and Raj’s track record of previous success will be invaluable.

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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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Jonathan Stowe, Distribution Director

Jonathan Stowe joined Nisa-Today’s in January 2010 to the newly created position of distribution director. Jonathan’s principal role is to ensure the smooth transition of the group’s distribution contract with DHL, which will commence in April 2011, along with the day-to-day activities of the distribution and warehousing function.

Jonathan has over 20 years experience in supply chain management having previously held posts with third party logistics providers, suppliers and independent wholesalers. He is experienced in managing all aspects of the supply chain, including supply and demand planning, warehousing, product re-packing and distribution, customer service and quality support.

Jonathan’s responsibilities at Nisa-Today’s include managing all aspects of the contract between Nisa-Today’s and its third party logistics suppliers, recommending and enhancing strategies and ensuring the best service is provided for Nisa members.

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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 ten 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.

Wayne is 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 17 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 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 almost seven years and has over 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, Government relations, CSR and environment for the group and is editor of ‘Your Consortium’ magazine.

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David Morris, Head of IT

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 1992 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.

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Mark Plaskitt, Head of Marketing

Mark has been working at Nisa-Today’s for over 17 years, starting as marketing assistant and progressing to head of marketing in 2009. He has a wealth of experience in the marketing industry previously working at TSB Bank and Flexographic Printers.

Mark is responsible for implementing marketing and promotional activity for Nisa-Today’s. He leads a team of five people in the Member Support Centre, which produces all marketing material along with own label packaging for both the retail and wholesale divisions.

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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 Holdings Board and 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 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 have now managed the department for over 19 years.

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