In this series, British Baker talks to people from across the baking industry to find out about their career path, what their job involves, and the latest trends that are shaping their work.
We’re looking to showcase a diverse range of talent and job types across the industry, so if you’d like to be involved, please email dan.riley@wrbm.com.
Name: Sally Nicholson
Age: 47
Job title: Out of home sales director
Company and location: Finsbury Food Group, Sheffield
Education: BSc in Social Science from Leeds Metropolitan University
Tell us about your career to date:
Having previously held senior roles within the pub, restaurant, and bar industry, I started at Finsbury as a national account manager over 10 years ago, looking after wholesale buying groups and end users. I was then promoted to head of new channels, which included large end user strategic accounts as well as discounters. In late 2024, I became out of home sales director.
How would you describe your job in a sentence or two?
My role is both strategic and hands on. I help to guide the team on our strategic priorities and work to build strong relationships both internally and externally with our customers.
What does a typical day look like for you?
All sorts! I could be supporting the team either on or off site with customer visits or meetings, or I could be at any one of our sites across the country as well as actively looking for new and exciting opportunities such as new product development.
An important role of mine is to ensure that the sales team remain focused on both our short- and long-term goals.
Tell us about a challenge you have overcome recently:
Stepping up into a new director role. That leap from being in the thick of things all of the time to having to zoom out to see the bigger picture and provide a more thoughtful approach as to how to move the team and the business forward has been my biggest challenge to date.
I’ve learned how important innovation is to stay ahead of our competitors. Whether that’s innovation across our product, process, equipment or technology – I know not to ever rest on laurels and to keep pushing for continuous improvement.
What are been some highlights of your career?
Being able to grow and move up in my career within a progressive company like Finsbury, that puts people at the forefront of decision making.
What’s a common misconception about your role?
While individual sales team performance is crucial, successful sales leaders understand that teamwork and collaboration with cross-functional departments is vital for achieving overall goals.
What advice would you give to young people entering the baking industry?
It’s a brilliant industry full of creative, inspiring people with lots of opportunity within many different functions. There’s so much to get involved in.
Interested in a career in bakery? Check out Foodmanjobs for the latest vacancies
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