James Ashurst

Experience

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  The Railway Hotel

  Jan 2009 - Jun 2014

  • Bar Manager/ Personal Licence Holder

    Jan 2011 - Jun 2014

  • Bar Staff

    Jan 2009 - Jun 2014
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  A G Barr plc

  Jun 2014 - Nov 2017

  The main responsibilities of this role revolve around working towards sales targets and developing relationships with Independent Retailers across three main areas – Prospecting for New Business – Despite the element of the unknown with this type of customer, I incorporated determination, creativity and resilience to achieve a 132% index in my first year, adding a further 103 new accounts the following year. Regaining ‘At Risk’ Custom – This side of the role comes with its own challenges, as customers are usually at risk due to a grievance of some kind. I learnt to quickly adapt to each unique situation and successfully returned a 113% index across my first year. As I developed further, ‘At Risk’ accounts became my forte, returning an index of 130% in year two. Nurturing Existing Accounts – I realised that there was a massive opportunity to develop the existing customer base, building on existing relationships to improve their range of Barr products. I felt that this was just as important as prospecting and presented my idea to management. This resulted in the team performing ‘Nurture Calls’ across the winter months, adding a personal approach to the service. Show less As a Analyst in the Commercial Development Team, my main duties revolve around providing colleagues with key market information. My understanding and analysis enables informed decision making that benefits the company in the form of commercial planning, budgeting and realising sales opportunities. ANALYTICAL WORK-The creation of new Impulse Dashboards, with added regional and brand focus to drive colleague's market awareness, as an aid to more successful sales. -The construction of a weekly Key Brand Sales Report, to provide the Commercial Director with precise data for meetings with the board. CATEGORY INSIGHTS -The completion of category reviews for the likes of BP and Virgin Trains, to assess the functionality of current fixtures. Resulting in increased share of space for Barr products and the introduction of 'Rockstar' lines (Virgin Trains). -Assisted the CI Team in the delivery merchandising strategies for MRH and Co-op (Scotland), on both a regional and national level.-Provided international customers such as Shell, BP and Tesco with 'Share of Space' analysis and planogram development. Improving fixture performance with the inclusion of key brands that return a higher CROS/UROS. ADDITIONAL PROJECTSProject Perfect -Through analysis of customer EPOS, identified opportunities at C&C depot level, allowing for clear targeting of field resources, to drive range and space across key customers. -Brandbank - Collaborated with the team to provide high quality product images, company wide, resulting in enhanced promotional material. -CDT Managers - Compiling information on promotions to enable year to year comparisons, allowing for more accurate and effective forecasting. Show less

  • Local Business Development Manager

    May 2015 - Nov 2017

  • Commercial Analyst

    Jun 2014 - May 2015
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  McCain Foods

  Nov 2017 - Jun 2020

  Internal PromotionKey Account Manager for Fast Food & Free Trade Distributors across the Midlands/Manchester area, with a GSV responsibility of circa £9m.----------------Responsibilities include:- Management of key customers' P&L, investments and promotions to achieve profitable top line growth.- The successful launch of NPD within key distributors - with an emphasis on the new Surecrisp and Brew City ventures.- Negotiation and implementation of terms with Purchasing Managers/Buyers.- Lead and motivate a team of Regional Account Executives, with an aim of securing crucial incremental business. Show less

  • Regional Key Account Manager

    Jun 2019 - Jun 2020

  • Regional Account Executive

    Nov 2017 - Jun 2019
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  Northern Bloc

  Jun 2020 - Jun 2021

  Regional Sales Manager
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  CGA by NielsenIQ

  Jul 2021 - now

  Client Director - Foodservice