Our People

Harriet Wilson

Partnerships Director, Meat Business Women (UK & Ireland Chair)

Harriet joined Meat Business Women as Partnerships Director in August 2023. Here, she is focused on adding value to partners and increasing engagement across our wider community, to truly make meaningful change to the meat sector by attracting and retaining female talent. She won the first Meat Business Women ‘One to Watch Award’ in 2018 and was part of the UK&I Committee for three years.

Her career so far has involved Head of Agriculture & senior CSR roles for quick service restaurant chain McDonald’s and retailers ALDI and Co-op Food, with industry placements at Sainsbury’s and McDonald’s whilst at university. She graduated from Harper Adams University in 2014 and during her studies was a columnist for the Farmers Weekly.

With her background and passion for Agriculture, Harriet is a previous member of the NFU’s Next Generation Policy Forum, advisor to the Prince’s Countryside Fund Farming Group and sat on the Red Tractor Board for Beef and Lamb standards.

Harriet is based on her partners’ arable farm in Shropshire and also helps on her family’s beef & sheep farm in Staffordshire. Previously an active Young Farmers’ member, she enjoys coaching younger members in public speaking and stock judging, as well as organising various charity events.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

+44 7969 659 032

Jodie Bolland

Head of UK Agricultural Sourcing - Livestock & Eggs, Woodhead Bros (UK & Ireland)

Jodie has 10 years experience working across meat manufacturing, retail and commercial roles. Jodie started her career at Woodhead bros abattoir working across the lairage and abattoir, whilst studying her degree. Jodie has a passion for the meat industry and thrives on seeing how she can make a difference in her team and the industry. 

Jodie has recently completed an MBA whilst working full time and in her personal time loves to run and spend time in the outdoors. 

Rebecca Gilligan

Head of Project Management, ABP Ireland and Poland (UK & Ireland)

Rebecca is Head of Project Management for ABP Ireland and Poland where she started in this role in October 2021 and a short year later received the Meat Business Women ‘One to Watch’ Award in October 2022.

Growing up on a farm, Rebecca has a passion for all things animal related and graduated as a veterinary nurse in 2018. As a veterinary nurse one might say the meat industry wasn’t a typical career path, however, as a graduate Rebecca entered into the meat industry with Meat technology Ireland (Teagasc) supporting a diverse range of research and development projects while also supporting Lean Manufacturing.

Rebecca later moved into a Lean Management Executive Role with ABP Slaney where she embarked on and graduated with a Masters in Lean Six Sigma. It was during this time that Rebecca grew passionate about continuous improvement, establishing herself as a catalyst for positive change through engaging teams and helping them open their minds to all opportunities, ideas and fundamentally resulting in overall increased performance and efficiency.  

As a Gen Z female in a management position Rebecca began to understand life for a woman in the meat industry. Through her lived experiences, combined with her passion for continuous improvement Rebecca is empowered to change the culture around women in the meat industry and to make the world a more inclusive place as whole.

With the support of ABP, Rebecca has led and executed the launch and establishment of ABP SHE for Ireland and Poland while also helping the ongoing growth of Meat Business Women’s profile across both ABPs sites and wider a field. On a more personal level, Rebecca volunteers with a Girls Rescue Centre in Africa, where she actively advocates for their needs.

Emma Hallam

Sales & Marketing Controller - Sainsbury, Moy Park (UK & Ireland)

Emma joined Moy Park in 2014, having held senior Sales & Marketing roles across the food industry for 18 years, moving in 2018 to a newly created role as Head of Sales – Strategic Affiliates, working closely with key customers and their manufacturing supply chain to develop and nurture these relationships.

A self-confessed ‘foodie’, Emma has a rich culinary family heritage with her parents’ restaurant ‘Harry’s Place’ holding a Michelin star for 17 years and her uncle being Managing Director of Dickinson & Morris, a position held since 1992.

Before following her family into the food industry, Emma was a graduate of The Royal Ballet School, she had the privilege of sharing a stage with Rudolf Nureyev at Covent Garden age 11 and  subsequently enjoyed a successful professional ballet career.

Andrea Jex

Procurement Director, Hilton Foods (UK & Ireland)

Andrea joined Hilton Foods in 2016 and has held various positions within Procurement before being appointed Procurement Director in 2022. She heads up a global team that is responsible for the procurement of packaging, non-protein food and indirect services.

She has over 30 years’ experience in the food procurement sector having worked for a number of major food manufacturers.

Packaging innovation and sustainability are areas that Andrea is passionate about and she is a very active member of some of the bodies that promotes these areas globally and is determined to make a difference in this area.

Andrea has a First-Class Honours Degree in Food Manufacturing and reached the finals of the 2021 Women in Meat industry awards for the Meat Businesswomen Manufacturing and Processing award.

When Andrea is not at work she enjoys clay pigeon shooting and riding motorbikes but obviously not at the same time!

Sam Tinsley

VP EMEA & APAC, Lumachain (UK & Ireland)

Sam serves as VP of EMEA & APAC. In her role, Sam is responsible for customer engagement and rollouts for customers across Europe and Asia Pacific. She is also responsible for implementing processes and structures to enable the smooth rollout and support of our platform at customer sites. 

Sam specializes in strategic business planning, sales, marketing strategy planning and execution, business process re-engineering and continuous improvement. Prior to joining Lumachain, she served as Project Advisor at Malone Group, Managing Director at Cutting Edge Services Ltd.

Stacey McKenna

Meat Industry Advisor (Australia Chair)

Stacey McKenna serves as the Australian Chair of Meat Business Women, having recently signed on as the Australian Territory partner, Stacey is excited to grow the Meat Business Women initiative in the Australian market.

With extensive experience in the meat industry, she brings valuable knowledge and leadership to elevate women's roles and foster inclusivity.

In addition to this pivotal role Stacey also serves as the Industry Affairs Manager for The Midfield Group, a prominent meat Australian meat processor and holds board positions with both the Australian Meat Industry Council and the Australian Meat Processor Corporation.

Stacey is passionate about industry development and actively contributes to the development of the meat industry via these positions. Her dedication to industry engagement and diverse skill set position her as a strong advocate for the red meat sector.

Stacey's academic credentials include a Graduate Certificate in Agribusiness, a Diploma in Meat Technology, and graduation from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Abigail Delaney

Communications Advisor, Beef + Lamb New Zealand (New Zealand Chair)

Abigail’s background is in communications, engagement and marketing. Abigail joined the red meat sector in 2019 as the Communications Advisor for Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Ltd which is her current role.

Abigail leads B+LNZ’s internal communications, social media and is heavily involved in the planning and execution of B+LNZ’s communications and marketing campaigns.

She joined the sector with a background in vocational education and adult learning having worked for Open Polytechnic. She has a special interest in digital communication, marketing and building relationships through engagement.

Caroline Peach

Communications Manager, Beef + Lamb New Zealand (New Zealand)

Caroline has an extensive background in marketing, communications and account management. She joined Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc in 2021 as a Brand and Communications Specialist where she sits across marketing and communications on the consumer side.

For Caroline, being a part of the Meat Business Women committee is an honour and a great opportunity to be involved hands-on in growing and supporting the Meat Business Women New Zealand community.