Paul has worked for over 33 years in the buying departments of the Co-Op and Aldi in the UK, leading buying teams responsible for multi-million-pound turnovers.
Paul started his career in Marketing and Buying with the Co-Operative Wholesale Society where he progressed to Senior Buyer responsible for Cakes, Eggs and Frozen Foods.
Paul then joined Aldi UK as their very first buyer and constructed the initial range prior to opening the first UK store in 1990. Paul developed private label ranges from scratch across many ambient, frozen, chilled, and non-food categories. Managing performance in periods of unprecedented growth, he was responsible for supplier negotiations, category strategies and private label new product sourcing and design development. Many of the suppliers that Paul onboarded all those years ago remain as key suppliers to Aldi to this present day.
Paul became a Group Director, managing teams of buyers across diverse categories. This key leadership role focussed on executing category strategies to ensure a dynamic level of new product development whilst also managing sales and margin mix within the fiercely competitive market.
In addition, he oversaw the brand re-defining “Like Brands” advertising campaign that was instrumental in helping Aldi grow to over 8% UK market share.
More recently Paul managed the Buying Support and Market Insights teams, delivering analysis of sales and market data to support overall business strategy.
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