Ben Kaye

SURREAL

Gimme a sec to settle into the role, and then I'll tell you what I've been up to!

Category & Commercial Manager

Spin Tennis App

• Drew up an events plan to add an additional USP and revenue stream for Spin Tennis App
• Creating and hosting events to further engagement within the Spin Tennis Community
• Sourcing venues to deliver an enjoyable experience for Spin members
• Initial events in 2025 have had 100+ attendees with a positive experience and demand for further events

Event Manager

2 Sisters Food Group

Category Manager within the Poultry division, working across a variety of retail customers:
• Responsible for analysis of all protein space & sales performance for a large convenience retailer, helping deliver "the best presentation across the supply base" (retail buyer), resulting in 20% incremental space and additional SKUs worth £m of pounds to the business
• Led and delivered the development of best-in-class insights reporting website, delivering the team’s category insight, in-store reports and data analysis all in one centralised place for customers
• Produced comprehensive consumer insight report to assist retailers in understanding Christmas purchase decisions
• Used data and analytics skills to redesign and rebuild the Co-op Sales Reporting process to give more profound and more powerful insights to the commercial team, resulting in the award of Employee of the Month
• Led the delivery of category insights for BBQ Season 2024, featuring new image-based market maps

Category Manager

Well Fruited

Co-founder of a drinks brand that used product innovation and fun to address the fact that only 28% of adults consume 5 portions of fruit & veg a day.

Some key accomplishments:
• Co-created the first fruit drink made using all of the fruit, designed to maximise fibre and nutrient content, whilst limiting sugar impact
• Bootstrapped the business through initial product testing phases by using self-taught skills such as web design, branding, financial modelling & prototyping
• Sold over 5,000 bottles as part of initial testing phase, through various channels such as D2C, B2B and live events
• 7m video views across TikTok, YouTube & Instagram
•Charted the growth of the brand alongside my insights into what makes a consumer-business stand out

Co-Founder & CEO

Unrest

Participated in the programme to help strengthen the foundations of the business and fuel the growth of the Well Fruited brand.

As part of the programme:
- Refined our Pitch Deck & proposition
-Built out Financial Projections & models
- Refined brand strategy
- Engaged in the wider Unrest community

Entrepreneur at Unrest (London)

Year Here

Working on solutions to societal problems to deliver positive impact and social change.

Mar - August 2021: Population Health Team, Bromley-by-Bow Health Partnership. Projects included:
• Project Best Start: analysing data to build a profile of young people within Tower Hamlets and help inform decisions on how to give every child the best start in life
• Project Ways of Working: delivered a report that assessed ways of working across the Health Partnership, with recommendations on how to improve ways of working across areas such as meetings, project management and document sharing
• Project Talking Food: organised and facilitated sessions around nutrition and healthy diet for local community members to help improve wellbeing, which results in some "life-changing" results

Sep - Oct 2021: Consultant on a project for Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation around equitable and representative employment for the local area

Social Innovation Fellow

Bakkavor

Working across UK & Ireland on one of the UK's largest retailers on multiple fresh prepared food categories.

Role included delivering first-to-market innovation, long-term strategic planning, stakeholder management, building customer relationships and commercial analysis.

Key accomplishments:
• Shortlisted for Bakkavor Group Innovation Awards for work on Post-Launch Review Process
• Led the introduction of a new software tool to deliver faster, more accurate and in-depth sales reporting on a weekly basis to transform the way the sales teams reported on performance, whilst saving countless hours of data collection
• Worked on a bespoke strategy for Tesco Ireland to adapt offerings to fit the market need, resulting in cutting wastage by 20%
• Launched new product ranges across multiple retailers, cuisines and tiers, worth over £10m in annual sales revenue

Testimonials:
• Attention to detail is fantastic and it’s been a great support

Commercial Manager

Managing key retailer accounts across a variety of Fresh Prepared Foods categories to deliver first to market innovation and profitable business growth.

Responsible for Category Strategy, Promotional Planning and International Projects, achieved through cross-functional working and a commitment to innovative and new working practices.

Key accomplishments:
• Improved forecasting accuracy by c.15%pt through the creation and implementation of an analysis tool
• Established a clear set of category information documentation that enabled the team to become category pioneers through easy-to-access information on product & promotional performance
• Grew an e-commerce account 28% YOY, ahead of the growth trajectory for the retailer overall
• Improve margin performance of at-risk lines through Product Development work to recover of £50k p/a

Testimonials:
Ben is a self-starter and is constantly looking at avenues and ways to add value to the business. 
He has proactively volunteered for add on projects and has been working with grit and determination on PLR (Post Launch Review) project which has been identified as a big opportunity.

Account Manager

Part of the Commercial Team, working directly with two of the UK's largest retailers and a wide range of various stakeholders.

Worked across a variety of Fresh Prepared Foods categories on both projects with retailers and supplier-related projects. This has included forecasting, promotional activity, category management and using specific data sources and systems.

Key achievements:
• Winner of Graduate's Graduate Award (2018) for contribution to the business and experience of graduates on the programme
• Won monthly innovation award for leading a project to save M&S over £1m in food waste on their Italian ready meal category

Testimonials:
Ben has made an impressive start to his career at Bakkavor and is a pleasure to have on the team. His approach is humble, respectful, resilient and committed.

Commercial Graduate

Tesco

Primarily working on promotional strategy and ranging across the Plant-Based ranges within Fresh & Frozen. Helping to deliver double-digit growth in one of the emerging areas within the food industry.

Additionally assisted in the delivery of the 2019 Christmas Party Food Range.

Key accomplishments:
• Ranging recommendations delivered possible incremental sale of £31m and £14m margin for Tesco across chilled & frozen ranges
• Ensured timely launch of Christmas Party Food ranges to ensure all lines were correctly executed in-store

Product Analyst

The Holiday Place

Working in the Product Department which involves:
• Dealing with contracts with suppliers
• Content writing for the website
• Using the dedicated software to manage hotel and flight details

Administration Assistant

XpressionFM

I was:
• Head of Marketing at Xpression FM (www.xpression.fm)
• Xpression FM Saturday Sport Show pundit (www.facebook.com/xpressionsportshow)
• Producer of Highly A-Newsing (www.facebook.com/highlyanewsing)

Head of Marketing

💥 MY BACKGROUND
👨🏻‍💻 I work in Category Management across multiple customers, covering insights, sales analysis and consumer trends
🛒 I've worked with some of the UK's largest retailers on their own label ranges, launching over 100 products
📈 Focusing on sales growth, product assortment and category strategy
🍲 Seconded to work for the UK's largest food retailer in supporting the launch of two new brands
🍊Co-founder of Well Fruited; developing first-to-market innovation; a drink with half the sugar of a juice/smoothie, with 4k+ units sold and over 7m times across TikTok, Instagram & YouTube!
🎾 I once won the Junior Tennis Tournament at my local tennis club, so am always up for a game

💥 TESTIMONIALS
▶️ "The guys who created and make the product [Well Fruited] are extraordinary, they fully deserve the success coming their way!"
▶️ "Your ability to spot the smallest details in a giant spreadsheet of numbers is unreal"
▶️ "A deserved winner of Employee of the Month for going above and beyond in helping the team"

Feel free to connect with me to chat...or for a game of tennis 🤝

Co-Founder

Co-founder of a Food & drink brand using product innovation and fun to address the fact that only 28% of adults consume 5 portions of fruit & veg a day.

Some key accomplishments:
• Co-created the first fruit drink made using all of the fruit, designed to maximise fibre and nutrient content, whilst limiting sugar impact
• Bootstrapped the business through initial product testing phases by using self-taught skills such as web design, branding, financial modelling & prototyping
• 6m video views across TikTok, YouTube & Instagram
•Charting the growth of the brand alongside my insights into what makes a consumer-business stand out

Mimica

Communications Manager

Untied

(Textile repair workshops that encourage change within habits and mindset to clothing and fashion)

Demonstrating initiative and passion for sustainability/brand development, established a brand to promote and teach mending skills. Lead graphic design projects, oversee Untied’s website, social media and MailChimp accounts, and organise mending workshops. Influence a community of over 1,000 followers on Instagram by creating engaging content informed by social media analytics and customer behaviour.

• Strategised and developed a brand and designed unique branding. Built a brand identity and brand collateral in line with the target audience insights, conceptualised and directed a website untiedworkshops.com creation by working with a graphic and web designer.

• Gained 5 new business clients this year and formed lasting collaborations with 3 established companies increasing industry recognition and brand awareness.

• Organised and hosted 10 events with a success rate of 89% for groups of 10-20 people, reaching sales and attendance goals. Of these, 2 were 4-week courses with a 100% participant satisfaction rate.

Co-Founder / Marketing & Brand Manager

Loopcycle

(Tech start-up that improves circularity for businesses across foodservice equipment supply chain through traceability)

Recruited as a Marketing Coordinator and, after three months, was promoted to Marketing Manager to develop and implement the marketing strategy and increase brand awareness. Led and motivated two interns and managed communications with a community of designers, creative producers, consultants and other stakeholders.

• Transformed a brand by developing and implementing a brand strategy. Created brand identity guidelines and ensured brand consistency across all marketing channels based on customer insights.

• Directed an explainer video and led creatives and a tech team to revamp a website and software platform aligned to brand guidelines.

• Increased LinkedIn following by 370% in one year by planning and implementing social media and content strategies and delivering engaging marketing campaigns.
Position eliminated unexpectedly following a financial cut back.

Marketing Manager

Demonstrating my responsibility, leadership and quick learning skills, was promoted to Marketing Manager after only three months of working as a Marketing Coordinator.

Marketing Coordinator

Nudie Jeans

•   Provided clear and professional communication to customers on a part-time daily basis at a sustainable denim brand.
•   Helped raise NJ audience’s awareness of the company’s circular business model by demonstrating the repair process of the clients’ jeans in the shop.

Retail Sales Associate

Paul Smith

• Consistently reached and surpassed personal sales targets and as a result, was earning over 20% of the monthly salary in commission.
• Provided a seamless omnichannel service and helped boost online sales by incorporating digital technology in the in-store customer purchase journey.

Vanessa Seward

(VS was a French premium fashion boutique with shops in Paris and London)

•   Implemented a digital styling guide as part of the customer engagement strategy.
•   Initiated competitor mystery shopping, as part of the primary market research; analysed my findings and produced a report and a presentation.
•   Helped sustain client loyalty and raise brand awareness to new audiences by assisting the Brand Manager in organising and hosting four events.
•   Trained four new staff members.
•   Overlooked the shop’s daily operations independently.

Senior Shop Assistant

• Secured and maintained relationships with multiple stakeholders by providing excellent customer service.

Shop Assistant/Key Holder

Ruby Ruth Dolls

(Handmade, collectable dolls and homeware brand)

• Staged six photoshoots and created visual content for their website and social media.

Photographer

•   In a team of three assembled and packaged signature soft toys reaching production and delivery targets in time.

Production Assistant

Fashion Crossover London

•    Helped to raise awareness of emerging Chinese designers with a focus on sustainable design and hand craftsmanship to the UK audiences at a fashion showcasing and e-commerce startup.
•    Designed a proposal for a pop-up venue to raise the designers’ profile and promote their work.
•    Conducted secondary market research to identify peers and competition.

Creative Marketing Assistant

I’m a communications manager with 4+ years’ experience, specialising in impact startups. At Mimica, I oversee marketing communications, driving brand awareness and audience engagement. Earlier, I established the brand and communications foundations for an early-stage startup and co-founded a mending workshop business.

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Ben Kaye

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