Andrew Emsley

• Supported the innovation lead on delivering the innovation pipeline for M&S working 1-3 years out from launch
• Hands on role creating products in the development kitchen to bring to life ideas for future products
• Presented and made concepts for customer product showcases, focusing on main areas of our business desserts and bakery
• Collaborated with development chefs at M&S head office to co-create recipes, streamlining submission timelines for quicker product readiness
• Owned projects working on 1st to market products for launch 2027/28 working way ahead of day to day critical path timings
• Owned live brief products on anything that was deemed challenging, developing and costing before handing to the day team
• Consulted the wider team on recipe formulation, ingredient functionality and factory capability
• Worked closely with the projects engineer looking at new kit and capabilities and what that could deliver, tracking capex and lead times for new investment
• Worked closely with key suppliers arranging presentations and bi-monthly calls to keep track of innovation projects
• Sourced innovative raw materials while considering availability, MOQ, and lead times, briefing bespoke products to align with project needs
• Ran feasibility trials with the project engineer to validate recipes and kit capability
• Organised the trips/trawls and show calendar for the year assigning team members to attend and visit places
• Costed all innovation projects to get a guide on cost prior to becoming a live brief
• Facilitated cross-department discussions on innovation project viability, resolving potential issues before projects became live
• Worked closely with the category team making sure innovation projects were backed with category data to support
• Keeping up to date with new trends, places of interest and general innovation to keep ahead of the curve, using instagram, food people etc

• Managed the entire Park Cake M&S account on bakery, desserts and café from concept development to process handover
• Managed a team of 7 direct reports over the 3 categories conducting 1:1s and personal development plans
• Led kick-off meetings to align on concepts with key stakeholders across business, technical, operations, engineering, and procurement before development
• Held brainstorm meetings with the team to generate product ideas in a creative environment encouraging engagement and creative thinking
• Managed critical path from brief receipt to product handover to process team, ensuring key dates were met for timely product launches
• Attended and was the lead on all customer face to face submissions with support from the senior concept technologist
• First point of contact for all M&S product developers on accounts managed, managing difficult conversations, explaining product issues and maintaining excellent customer relationships
• Organised submission documentation with the specifications team to support product submissions, capturing key quality attributes of products throughout submissions
• Attended and supported finalised gate and product sign-off meetings to ensure concepts developed matched factory produced samples
• Chaired feasibility meetings, documenting actions and concerns from all business areas to accurately assess product viability and minimise risk
• Weekly meetings with procurement to check status of new raw materials currently in the development process
• Weekly critical path meetings to check status of every product in development and highlight any products at risk
• Ensuring accurate costings were submitted to the commercial team prior to submissions for accurate product quotations
• Managed food hygiene and safety in the development kitchen ensuring audits were passed and to an excellent standard consistently
• Chaired concept product handovers to the process team to ensure a smooth transition to the the next stage of the critical path and factory scale up
• Attended product trials throughout the trial process to support and maintain continuity from concept to launch
• Ensured products were ready in a timely manner for key meetings, feasibility, internal product panels and customer submissions

supported concept technologist role with additional responsibilities

• presented product concepts to M&S at head office during customer submissions
• Worked closely with commercial on target raw materials and sustaining margins during development
• Cost engineered products to attain better margins and bring costs down without losing product quality
• Conducted feasibility trials in the factory on challenging products to validate if feasible before going too far down the development process
• Being conscious of critical path timings and working closely with the concept manager to make sure key milestones were hit
• Keeping up to date with key trends and insights working with the category team, making sure data supports concepts developed
• Attended food trawls for research in London, Paris and Barcelona
• oversaw daily tasks and performance of one direct report, providing guidance and support.
• Conducted 1:1s and provided training to direct reports

• Validated concept ideas through internal feasibility process to ensure suitability for factory capabilities
• Compiled detailed submission documentation for product approvals, including product make-up, key call-outs, and recipe breakdowns
• Developed products in the desserts fixture for M&S
• Prepared kitchen samples for product submissions with the customer
• Costed products developed to a raw materials cost
• Carried out organoleptics on products over life to test shelf-life
• Organised product files for handover to process team, facilitating smooth transition to scale-up production