Phil Smith,
Managing Director, Musgrave Retail Partners GB. Chairman of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and its Council of Members
Phil joined Musgrave as managing director of Musgrave Retail Partners GB in September 2007 and was appointed to the board of Musgrave Group plc.
Prior to joining Musgrave, Phil most recently served as commercial and operations director for the UK national lottery operator, Camelot plc, where he oversaw retailer and supplier services as well as HR and IT.
Before Camelot, Phil was with Somerfield where he was group marketing director and previously trading director of Kwik Save. He also spent 10 years in leadership roles at Kraft General Foods.
Phil has 20 years experience in food, manufacturing and retail and throughout his career he has been passionate about building brands. He has unique experience of developing retail partnerships which makes him ideally suited to lead the Musgrave business in Great Britain.
Chris Etherington,
Chief Executive, Palmer & Harvey. Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and its Council of Members
Chris joined Palmer & Harvey in June 2006 as chief executive with more than 30 years experience in wholesale and retail distribution, following a position as managing director of the national aftermarket wholesaler Unipart Automotive.
Prior to that, he was managing director for UK and executive director for Northern Europe of the FTSE 100 company, Alliance UniChem. Chris held several senior positions in the company before being promoted to the board in 1997 after a period at Harvard Business School.
After joining Palmer & Harvey, Chris has led a strategic review of the business with a focus on strengthening the company's services to all customers through the development of its trading packages and infrastructure. Since then, Palmer & Harvey has made excellent progress in achieving its strategic and financial objectives which underpinned the company's third MBO in two decades at the beginning of 2008.
Peter Blakemore,
Managing Director, AF Blakemore & Son Ltd
Peter joined the family business, AF Blakemore & Son Ltd in 1965. AF Blakemore was founded in 1917 by Peter's grandfather. The company developed cash and carry depots in the 1960s and 1970s and now operates nine.
In the 1980s, rapid growth took place in its SPAR symbol business, which continued in the 1990s when a chain of company operated convenience stores was developed.
Foodservice has grown during the last 10 years and the company is an important operator in this sector. Peter was chairman of Landmark Cash & Carry Group Ltd from 1986 to 1991 and has been chairman of Spar Food Distributors since 1991.
Hannes Floto,
Managing Director, Makro UK
Hannes is responsible for making continuous improvements to the Makro range and developing an offering to enhance its customers' businesses, making Makro a business partner every day. With international experience in the wholesale and retail market, he ensures Makro offers innovative, professional and high quality product solutions for the core and general business needs of customers.
Hannes has been at the helm of Makro UK since 2007 following a highly successful role with the Metro Group as food buying director in Makro Greece, a position that he took up in 2002. Hannes began his retail career at Lidl and managed the opening of the first 10 stores of Lidl UK in October 1993.
Philip Jenkins,
Managing Director, Sugro UK
Philip's first full-time job was exporting Corgi Toys. He joined the Co-op Distribution operation in 1980 and moved around the UK with them in various roles in distribution logistics, until he joined Nisa-Today's in 1988.
He remained with Nisa-Today's until 1995, latterly as wholesale trading director, and moved to Spar/Landmark as distribution development director. In 1999 he joined NWCL - Sugro UK - as managing director, where he is implementing a diversification of commercial development, as well as strengthening the principles of a buying and marketing group.
He joined the FWD Council in June 2004.
Bill Laird,
Managing Director, Today's Group
Bill joined the Today's Group in March 2009 as managing director heading up a team of 12 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 and Somerfield Stores.
He worked at Midcounties Cooperative 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 10 years working at board level.
Younus Sheikh,
Managing Director, Bestway Cash & Carry
Younus came to the industry from an unusual direction - he studied science at university and went on to achieve a Diploma in Leather Manufacturing. Around 1968, Younus joined Bestway, a London-based convenience retail business with a few corner stores. He and the other founding directors could sense they were on to something that would lead them to a much bigger future - cash and carry. In 1976 he was key to the beginnings of Bestway as it is today.
In addition to his role as managing director of the Bestway Cash and Carry business he is managing director of Batleys and a trustee of the group's charitable giving through the Bestway Foundation in the UK and Pakistan.
Steve Pappas,
Managing Director, Costco Wholesale UK
Over the course of 18 years with Costco Wholesale, Steve has worked in five countries across four continents. He joined in 1991 as an assistant warehouse manager and quickly progressed to become a general manager in southern California.
He joined Costco's international division in 1997 and was appointed director of operations for Costco's joint venture in Taiwan, and in 2000 he was promoted to managing director of Costco Wholesale Korea and vice president of Costco Wholesale Corporation.
He moved to Sydney in September of 2005 to head Costco's start-up in Australia and transferred to London in September of 2006 as managing director of Costco Wholesale UK Ltd.
Steve Parfett,
Managing Director, AG Parfett & Sons
Steve started his working career as a graduate trainee at Waitrose. The grounding of this training was invaluable when the Parfett family decided to set up their own business in 1980.
Founded by Steve and his father Alan, Parfetts began trading in 1980, and Steve has been involved in the management and running of the business ever since. On Alan's retirement in 1989, Steve was made managing director, assisted by fellow director Robert Parfett and Robert Miller as financial director. Steve has continued to expand the business, opening Parfetts' sixth depot in Sheffield in November 2004.
When Alan retired from Landmark's board of directors in 1994, Steve was elected to take his place and the following year he became chairman. In March 2000, Steve was also elected chairman of the FWD, a position Alan Parfett held in the 1980s. This is the first time a father and son have held this prestigious position.
Charles Wilson,
Chief Executive, Booker
Charles joined Booker as chief executive in November 2005, from Marks & Spencer where he was executive director for property, IT and supply chain.
Charles started his career in 1986 with Procter & Gamble. From 1987 to 1991, he was a consultant with OC&C Strategy Consultants, and in 1991 he founded Abberton Associates. In 1998 he joined Booker plc as executive director responsible for branches, supply chain, strategy and systems.
In 2000, he was appointed managing director of Booker Cash & Carry, within the Iceland Group plc. From 2001 to 2003 he was executive director of Arcadia Group plc, responsible for strategy, property, supply chain and systems.
One of Charles' early actions after taking charge of Booker was to reinstate its membership of the FWD and to encourage his team to take an active role in the federation's activities.
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