Services
A Head of Sales,
without the
£100k salary.
Embedded in your business on a fixed monthly fee, from £750. Same job as a full-time hire, at the stage where a full-time hire would break you.
The shape of it
Launch
From £750 a month
For brands that aren't on the shelf yet, or are on a few shelves and want the right ones. Branding, labelling and sourcing if you need it, pricing and margin that survive a buyer, the sell sheet, the target list, and me in the meeting with you. One fixed fee, no day counting, and we agree exactly who does what before the first invoice.
Orbit
Priced on the call
For brands that are listed and need someone to run it properly. Key account management, the joint business plan, rate of sale and the data behind it, promo planning, the admin a supermarket generates, and being the person the buyer rings. The most a client gets from me: senior-level access with my name on the account.
Four ways in
Depends where you are.
Launch
Foundations
For brands still taking shape, or not yet a brand at all. Branding, labelling and sourcing, then sharpening the offer and getting the product genuinely ready for retail rather than nearly ready. Native Roots started here.
Route to shelf
For brands ready to make their move. Getting buyer ready, opening the right doors, and landing listings that are worth having rather than listings that flatter a deck.
Orbit
Momentum
For brands already listed. Rate of sale and data analysis, key account management, and being the person a major supermarket actually picks up the phone to. Plus new channels, before the current ones plateau.
New Horizons
For brands leaving their home market. Planned expansion into other countries, done on evidence rather than on whoever emailed you from a trade show. I work across UK and European retail, so this is not theory.
This works if
- You are a founder-led FMCG brand, most likely food or drink
- You are somewhere between an idea on the kitchen table and £5m turnover
- The product is genuinely good and you know it
- You are ready for retail but not ready for a senior sales hire
It does not if
- You want someone to send cold emails and report on open rates
- The product still needs work and you would rather not hear that
- You are looking for a guaranteed listing. Nobody can sell you one
- You need a full-time person on site five days a week
Before you ask
What does a month actually look like?
Rarely a full day sat in one place. It is buyer research and target lists, working through pricing and margin until it survives contact with a category manager, building or fixing the sell sheet, prepping you for meetings, and then sitting in those meetings. Between those days, the follow-up and the chasing happens on email and calls. I work with whatever reporting you already use, whether that is a weekly call, a shared sheet or a quick message, so you always know what moved and what is next.
Can you help before I have a product?
Yes. Branding, labelling and sourcing are part of the job, not a separate thing you go elsewhere for. Native Roots was built from that point. If you have an idea and no packaging, no supplier and no pricing, that is a perfectly normal place to start.
How long until something happens?
Longer than either of us would like. Retail buying runs on category review cycles, and those are set months in advance regardless of how good your product is. The honest version is that early work is about being ready when the window opens rather than forcing one. Anyone promising you a listing by a specific date is guessing.
What if it is not working?
Then I will say so, and we stop. I would rather lose the days than take money for something that is not moving. If the product needs work before it goes anywhere near a buyer, you will hear that in the first fortnight, not the sixth month.