“As my final days with Treatt count down, I have reflected on, what has been, the most incredible 33-year journey.
When I first interviewed for the company, at the young age of 19, I was immediately struck by how fascinating this industry was. Despite my interest, it might amuse you to learn that I wasn’t successful in my first application with Treatt! Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before I was invited back to interview for another position, and I joined the 62-strong company as a lab technician in 1990.
I’d always been good at science, and had an insatiable appetite for learning, so was hugely driven to absorb as much as I could about this exciting new world. I was one of the first Treatt employees to undertake a distance learning qualification, studying analytical chemistry with the Royal Society of Chemistry, which was a great experience that very much complemented the day job.
From the lab, I moved into an operations role where I was part of the team that brought pre-packaged stock into the business. During this time, we implemented multiple efficiencies – some of which are still in place today. For example, the benches that are used in operations globally are a proud part of my legacy!
In addition to giving me a platform to continuously learn new things, Treatt also enabled me to travel the world, which was another huge passion of mine from a young age. I moved from the lab into a procurement role in 2001 and had some unforgettable experiences that cemented my love for this industry. Whether I was picking mandarins off trees in Sicily at midnight or sleeping on a concrete bench in a grapefruit factory in the Middle East, I have treasured every adventure. And there have certainly been some character-building adventures over the years. I can recall one trip where I’d travelled so much that when the plane landed, I wasn’t sure which country I was in! Turns out, it was Azerbaijan.
It was in these years that I really started to feel the untapped potential in Treatt. I could see that we had an opportunity to build the company into a better version of what it was before, and this became a motivating force that drove my focus in the years to come.
When I was appointed as CEO at Treatt USA in 2010, I was lucky to work alongside others who shared this ambition and helped fan the flames of what would become my vision for the future of Treatt. We invested heavily in driving cultural change, and while that took time to establish, it marked a key moment in our history. By focusing our efforts on creating the right environment for our people to thrive, we unlocked the business’ potential and started delivering astonishing growth.
We began the process to enhance our focus on added valued manufactured ingredients, which progressively became a more material part of our evolving business. This allowed us to grow our business with the world’s biggest flavour and fragrance houses and brand owners with our high-quality, value-added beverage solutions.
Having demonstrated a successful approach to delivering growth in the US, I was appointed as Group CEO in 2012. As we looked to make strategic changes to the business, we knew we were taking some risks. We believed we could create more value for our customers and in doing so, would generate mutually beneficial partnerships that would set our business on a new path of sustainable success. I, like the team around me, were utterly convinced of the brightness of our future. We kept executing our plan and had a great time while we were doing it. The financial results soon spoke for themselves.
During my time in the US, we had developed a blueprint for delivering transformative business growth, and investing in our people globally became our worst-kept secret. Our commitment to culture became a baked in part of what stood us apart, and we weren’t shy about telling our customers, investors, and local communities about it.
The care we hold for our people, and the communities in which we operate, became defining aspects of our brand. We have long taken our responsibility in the community seriously and work hard to give back to local causes. Whether it’s through financial donations, volunteering time, investing in school equipment, or sharing our knowledge – supporting our communities will always be important to Treatt.
I have also been hugely proud to lend my voice to raising the profile of our business in Suffolk. Working with the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, West Suffolk Council, and our MP Jo Churchill, has been very rewarding in this respect. Ours is a county with so much to shout about, with more businesses than I can name delivering exciting growth on a national and international scale.
The nature of leading a PLC is such that the bar is continually raised, and it’s been our culture that has, and will continue to, allow us to do that. One of my proudest reflections has been how our people have dug deep to deliver time and time again. Their energy and ambition are testament to the collective passion we have for this ever-changing industry – and will be what I look back on with heartfelt pride.
Prioritising our people and culture in this way put us in the best possible position to weather the challenges of the global pandemic. We could never have imagined how swiftly our business would need to adapt, mapping how we would get orders to customers in the eventuality of severe supply chain disruption. We navigated those years well, and again, didn’t lose sight of what mattered – supporting our people, providing each other with much needed stability and reassurance. While we are still experiencing macro environmental ripples from the pandemic, we emerged stronger, with a clearer picture of how to best serve our customers' dynamic needs.
In reviewing the headlines of my time with Treatt, one cannot do so without considering what you wished had gone differently. The downgrade in 2022 was a particularly challenging time for the Treatt family. Ours is a business of many employee shareholders, where the emotional investment in our collective success is the strongest I’ve ever seen. It hurt. But, in true Treatt fashion, our response was swift and decisive. We quickly identified what was needed to get back to winning, fixed what needed fixing, and are now in a far stronger position than we were before. We have shown, yet again, that we can dig deep and deliver – even in the most challenging situations. The way in which we responded was an embodiment of the culture we had all worked so hard to develop and maintain.
The last three years have certainly pushed us, but in such a way that has readied us to unleash the potential we all know is ahead of us. I leave Treatt very well positioned to continue to succeed and do so with immense gratitude for all the opportunities I’ve been given, and thankful for the countless people who have backed me over the course of my career. We have moved the business on – and it always has been ‘we’ with me. My job has always been to provide the right environment for those around me to thrive and do great things, and I have every confidence the team will continue to do just that.
And as for me, I’m looking forward to this new chapter, where the opening page is delightfully blank. My experience at Treatt has taught me so much and, in time, it’s an exciting prospect to explore how I can share what I’ve learned with others. I am still driven by a desire to learn, supporting local communities, and a love for travel, but will now have more time for me, and my family."