Neil Turton,  Chief Executive Officer

Neil has been with Nisa for 21 years and has been chief executive officer since 2007, taking over from Nisa Retail founder Dudley Ramsden. In the time since, Neil has led a transformation of the company. Member numbers are at record levels and sales have grown from £1 billion to £1.6 billion in that time. There have also been positive changes in strategy and culture, ensuring that Nisa Retail has the right structure and support for a company owned by its members and run to create member benefit.

Neil was also the chairman of the Association of Convenience Stores, the “voice of local shops” representing 33,500 local shops, from 2009 until 2011, and continued his strong support for the organisation by continuing in the role of vice chairman in September 2011.

Neil has 27 years’ experience in retailing, which began at Marks & Spencer, where he worked for six years, completing their management training and working in retail management in some of M&S’ largest stores, with a focus on food hall management. Joining Nisa Retail in 1991 as a buyer, Neil has spent the past 21 years in a wide variety of roles in all parts of the company, covering retail and wholesale, central distribution and buying group operations.

Neil also supports and manages the team at the Nisa’s Member Support Centre, which is crucial to the success of the company, assisting the 280 members of staff in the day-to-day running of the business. Neil has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) which he obtained alongside working at Nisa.

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John Sharpe,  Managing Director Central Distribution Trading & Logistics

John Sharpe joined Nisa Retail Limited over 21 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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Simon Webster, Finance Director

Simon joined the company in July 2010. As finance director he is responsible for the management of the group’s financial accounts, cash flow forecasting and management, along with department planning.

He joined the group with twelve years financial accounting experience after holding a series of senior financial roles at the Grimsby-based Icelandic Group UK Limited over an eight year period, latterly as Group Financial controller and company secretary, managing a team of six.

Simon is a fully qualified Certified Accountant and a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and Association of Accounting Technicians.

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Amanda Jones, Chief Operating Officer

Amanda joined Nisa as chief operating officer in April 2013 and, working closely with the senior management team, aims to drive growth within the company through solid business planning and focus on shifting to a retail mind-set.

Amanda joined the company with over 25 years’ experience within the retail sector, holding various senior positions within Waitrose and Marks and Spencer. During her time at Waitrose, Amanda was influential in developing and delivering new retail formats and has a strong understanding of shopping behaviours and delivery of outstanding customer service.

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John Haigh, Company Secretary

John is Nisa Retail Limited'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 Retail Limited and solicitor and counsel to the company, providing advice to the Board and executives.

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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 Retail and now holds the position as Group Symbol director and has led the team for the past nine years. John is a member of Nisa Retail Council and Symbol Group Development Committee.

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Raj Krishan, Nisa Retail Development Director

Raj Krishan is the newly appointed Nisa retail development director, and is a key part of the new structure and management team. He is responsible primarily for the development and growth of Nisa’s new secondary symbol fascia, Loco, as well as developing its forecourt retail membership.

The Loco symbol group is a new development for Nisa. The appointment of Raj to this new position will allow the company to utilise his vast experience within the symbol group sector to devise and implement a strategy to establish Loco as a leading choice for smaller retailers looking to affiliate to a symbol or fascia group.

Raj initially joined Nisa Retail in March 2010, as retail development director for the Today’s Group, overseeing the nation-wide roll-out of the Today’s symbol and retail club. Prior to this Raj has over 20 years of experience within the retail and wholesale industry, with senior management roles at Landmark Wholesale, A F Blakemore and Tates Retail, achieving significant success across the independent retail and wholesale sector.

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Andrew Mouse, Group Sales Director

As group sales director, Andrew has overall responsibility for the development of Nisa’s recruitment strategy, sales, member development and category management departments whilst leading a 30 strong sales team, including national account managers and retail development managers.

This recruitment strategy is helping Nisa pursue diverse business sectors including rail companies, leisure companies and garden centres, which have helped Nisa to achieve record breaking recruitment figures in the last year.

In 2013 Andrew won the award for Sales Director of the Year at the British Excellence in Sales & marketing Award.

Andrew has also led Nisa’s trade marketing campaign, creating an eye catching and innovative advertising campaign which has not only appeared in key trade publications but has also seen the creation of the new recruitment Join Us website.

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.

Andrew is a member of the Retail Council, Large Store Committee, Symbol Group Development Committee and IT Steering Group.

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Jonathan Stowe, Distribution Director

Jonathan Stowe joined Nisa Retail Limited 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 commenced 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 Retail Limited include managing all aspects of the contract between Nisa Retail Limited 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 fifty 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 Retail over eleven years ago and has over 21 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 Retail 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 Retail 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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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 Retail Limited 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 Retail Limited for over 19 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 Retail Limited. 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 extensive knowledge of the retail sector, which spans over 20 years, since he started running the family business Mike Roberts Foodstores, a member of Nisa for 31 years. His involvement in the family business has resulted in James having vast and in-depth knowledge of the Nisa business and what is important to its members.

He was awarded the Supermarketing magazine and Dairy Crest Foods ‘30 under 30’ accolade in 1991 at the age of 21, which recognised the talents, creativity and achievements of young managers in the grocery retailing sector.

James served on Nisa Retail Holdings Board and Central Distribution Services Board - later named the Nisa Retail Services Board - for six years and on the IT committee, Symbol Group committee and Supermarket Store Group.

In January 2007 he joined Nisa Retail Limited as head of Commercial Operations & Member Service. He has operational responsibility for key accounts within the group, including Costcutter, and has strategic involvement in many areas of the business, using his retail experience to ensure operations remain close to sharp-end member requirements.

His role also encompasses the management of a variety of areas of the Nisa business, a key aspect being the management of member communications. This is essential to ensure the company is run effectively and all important information is communicated in the most clear and efficient way to members. James also overseas the export operations as well as the Member Sales & Service team, the group’s printing department and day to day 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 Retail Limited 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 21 years.

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Mike Gisby, Head of Finance

Mike joined Nisa in February 2012 from the Icelandic Group UK Ltd where he held the position of finance controller at both group and divisional level. In May 2013, Mike was promoted to head of finance and is directly responsible for the finance, credit control and admin teams. Mike has more than 28 years’ experience in various financial and accounting roles in many industry sectors including manufacturing, engineering, food and distribution.

Since joining the company, Mike has been influential in many developments within Nisa, working to overhaul the company’s financial reporting and agree a new refinancing deal with Barclays.

Mike’s role includes management of Nisa’s financial accounts and cash flow forecasting as well as planning and management of the finance department, reporting directly to the finance director.

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