Women in Food Budget Playbook

Karen is an Adviser to the UK Government’s Board of Trade and was the CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, representing the UK’s largest food and drink exporting industry, advocating for and regulating the industry in the UK and export markets on trade, legal/IP, environmental, tax and skills policies. She was a diplomat in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for 16 years, holding a variety of posts in London and overseas. In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for services to international trade.

Currently CEO at IGD, Sarah is on the Women in Food Steering Group and has spent more than 25 years’ in retail, most recently as Group Quality Director at Tesco. She was responsible for delivering high-quality safe products, sustainability, agriculture and regulatory compliance, as well as working collaboratively to influence and drive change across the entire supply chain. Sarah held senior commercial and marketing positions at both Tesco and Aldi and co-chaired IGD’s Technical Leadership Forum, helping to drive change and mobilise the food and consumer goods industry as a force for good.

Christina, along with Jazz Swift, co-lead the Women in Food initiative with the Steering Group. She is a senior leader with extensive experience driving transformation and productivity across consumer goods and retail sectors. Through her work at Newton and previously at Diageo working across manufacturing and supply chain, she delivers lasting and sustainable change across the end-to-end value chain for consumer goods organisations. Having spent several years in male dominated operations environments, she is extremely passionate about increasing female representation in the food and drink industry.

Emma, who sits on the Women in Food Steering Group, is a highly experienced finance professional with a 25-year career spanning major UK and global businesses. She spent 15 years at ASDA before a move to Finance Director at Boots and then Chief Financial Officer of Global Brands for Walgreens Boots. For the last five years at M&S, she has worked across three of the high street stalwart’s major divisions – food, property, and retail. Next year, she is set to join restaurant chain Mitchells & Butlers as CFO.

Lindsey is also on the Women in Food Steering Group. As Valeo Foods UK’s CFO, she holds responsibility for the full finance function, legal and executive oversight of procurement. She has extensive knowledge within the food industry having worked at Board level for several years, including five spent as Chief Financial Officer for the UKI region of Pladis Global. She has worked across listed, private and PE-backed businesses, spending significant time leading strategy and transformation, including during 20 years at Kerry Foods.

Fellow co-lead of Women in Food, Jazz has spent the last decade driving strategic change for major grocery retailers and leading high street fashion brands. Her programmes enhance retail operations, supply chain efficiency and investment in physical estates. Starting her career working on the shop floor within Sainsbury’s, Jazz has a deep understanding of the sector that now underpins her work in transforming operations. A passionate advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion, she champions career development and opportunities for women across the food and drink sector, including co-leading Women in Food, to create pathways for future leaders and foster a more inclusive industry.