FMCG & Drinks Commercial Expertise

Senior commercial
thinking, without
the overhead.

Fractional, interim and consultancy support for FMCG and drinks brands that need Sales Director-level expertise — deployed exactly when and how they need it. Backed by 25+ years across every major channel.

Start a conversation How we work
£13m+
Single account managed
+27%
Wholesale volume growth
25yr+
FMCG commercial career
~50%
UK company sales owned

Commercial experience across

Diageo Molson Coors Kellogg's Ferrero Purity Soft Drinks Delegat Europe Fentimans
How we work

Three ways to work together

Every engagement is different. Whether you need ongoing commercial leadership, fixed-term cover, or a focused project — there's a model that fits.

01
Fractional

Ongoing, retained commercial leadership as a genuine part of your team. The strategic weight and buyer relationships of a senior Sales Director at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. Ideal for brands that need senior presence without the headcount.

Retained
02
Interim

Fixed-term senior cover for transitions, new channel launches, restructures, or periods of accelerated growth. Hit the ground running with no ramp-up — relationships and channel knowledge from day one.

Fixed Term
03
Consultancy

Focused project briefs with clear deliverables. Channel strategy, account development, commercial negotiation, tender support, RTM planning, or new business development. You define the brief, we deliver the output.

Project Based
📋
Joint Business Planning
Building and negotiating robust JBPs that align commercial objectives, secure investment and drive mutual growth — from structure through to sign-off.
🎯
Tender Negotiation
Proven track record in high-stakes tenders — retaining Mitchells & Butlers in consecutive cycles and opening Marston's cold after years of no traction.
🚀
New Business Development
Relentless in opening accounts that have been targets for years. LWC after 10 years. Marston's after 5. Majestic Wines from scratch. The contacts and the persistence to get it done.
📞
Contact Conversion
Getting in front of the right people is half the battle. A proven ability to land meetings with senior buyers and procurement teams — including accounts that had stonewalled previous approaches for years.
📊
Commercial Negotiation
From trading terms and pricing strategy to promotional investment and distribution agreements — structured, value-protecting negotiation across all major channels.
👥
People & Team Leadership
Hands-on people manager experience including recruitment, coaching and development — with a direct report promoted to Country Manager within a year.
Wholesale & On-TradeKey Account ManagementNational AccountsManaged EstateRTM StrategyPromotional ROIRange ReviewsDistribution PlanningForecasting & PlanningP&L ManagementSales Team SupportChannel Strategy
Proof of delivery

What good looks like in practice

Commercial results built across 25 years, multiple categories and every major channel. Real wins, real numbers.

Delegat · Mitchells & Butlers
Retained the company's largest global on-trade account for 7 years — including a 2-year contract renewal
Took on the account in 2017 and retained it through to 2023 across multiple tender cycles, including a 2-year contract renewal. Achieved top 2 and top 3 SPEAR wine supplier ratings — highest ranking in over 8 years of trading, competing against significantly larger brands.
Delegat · Wholesale Channel
+27% wholesale volume — 124,724 cases vs 98,150 budget
Built the channel strategy from scratch. Recruited, developed and led a KAM who was subsequently promoted to Country Manager within a year of joining the team.
Delegat · Marston's
First new national on-trade account in over 5 years — opened cold
No traction for years prior. Landed within 6 months of joining. Secured listings across managed, leased & tenanted including Pitcher & Piano and Revere Pub Company.
Delegat · LWC Wholesale
Opened LWC as national wholesale RTM — a 10-year target finally landed
LWC had been a priority for over a decade. Brought on as a key route to market for Oyster Bay and Barossa Valley Estate, opening new consumer reach across on-trade outlets nationwide.
Purity Soft Drinks · Firefly
+45% GSV growth — promoted to Head of UK Sales within 2.5 years
Won Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Ocado, Revolution Bars and Greene King. Presented the "perfect pitch" at M&B Innovation Day. Grew Matthew Clark from £9k to £55k GSV. One of only 2 in the business on course to hit budget profit.
Ferrero · McColl's
Tic tac from -50% to double digit growth within a single financial year
Rebuilt the commercial relationship through difficult terms negotiations. Created a Spring plan delivering +190% Kinder Surprise volume and £250k incremental revenue — the most successful confectionery promotion McColl's had ever run.
Molson Coors · Impulse
Opened Majestic Wines cold — 5,000-barrel account, £180k profit
Won from scratch. Rebuilt Budgens from -31% YTD to +14% in a single quarter. Grew Budgens +20% in 2011 against a market in 10% decline — first growth since 2007.
Delegat · Ireland Secondment
Double digit growth on a 150,000-case market during a 5-month step-in
Stepped into Country Manager responsibilities at short notice. Renegotiated annual plans and delivered double digit YOY growth across a strategically important market for the business.
Purity · WHS Travel
Built WHS Travel into a flagship £850k account with full JBP
Negotiated prime display and feature space across Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham Airport. Established a structured collaborative trading partnership from a standing start.
The black book

Relationships that open doors

One of the most underestimated assets a fractional commercial director brings isn't a methodology or a framework. It's a phone that gets answered.

Built across 25 years and every major FMCG channel, the JT Commercial Co network spans senior buyers, category managers, procurement teams, wholesale directors and on-trade decision makers at some of the UK's most significant accounts.

These aren't LinkedIn connections. They're relationships built through years of commercial partnership, joint planning and delivering results together — the kind that accelerate a new business conversation from weeks to days.

Channel coverage
Managed Estate On-TradeSenior contacts
National WholesaleSenior contacts
Regional Wholesale & C&CSenior contacts
Grocery & ConvenienceSenior contacts
High Street & Travel RetailSenior contacts
Independent On-TradeBroker & distributor network
About
Joe Thompson — JT Commercial Co Joe Thompson

Commercial weight. Consultant agility.

JT Commercial Co was founded by Joe Thompson — a drinks and FMCG commercial leader with an extensive track record spanning over two decades, from field sales through to Head of UK Sales and senior national account leadership.

Joe's career spans Diageo, Molson Coors, Kellogg's, Ferrero, Purity Soft Drinks and Delegat Europe — covering impulse, high street, grocery, wholesale and on-trade channels across drinks, confectionery and cereal categories.

Most recently as sole senior commercial resource at Delegat Europe, Joe owned approximately 50% of total UK company sales — including the company's largest global on-trade account at £13m+ — while simultaneously building and leading a wholesale channel that delivered +27% volume growth against budget.

Based in the East Midlands. Working nationally.

◆
Head of UK Sales — Purity Soft DrinksP&L ownership, direct CEO report, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Ocado and Greene King won
◆
Blue-Chip FMCG PedigreeDiageo, Molson Coors, Kellogg's, Ferrero — NAM and above across impulse, grocery and high street
◆
WSET Level 2 — Wines & Spirits, MeritCategory credibility that opens doors in drinks and on-trade conversations

"The strategic weight of a Sales Director, deployed with the agility of a consultant — backed by real relationships in every major channel."

£13m+
Single account — Delegat's largest globally
+27%
Wholesale volume growth vs budget
~50%
UK company sales as sole senior resource
25yr+
FMCG career across drinks, confectionery & cereal
Also available

Operator Tools — built from the field

Alongside consultancy and fractional work, JT Commercial Co also produces OperatorToolsUK — a range of professional Excel commercial tools built from real FMCG experience, not generic templates.

Every tool reflects how commercial decisions actually get made: range reviews, joint business plans, promotional ROI, distribution tracking, deal approval. Buyers recognise the difference immediately.

Available as individual downloads, team licences or bespoke builds — and deployable as part of a fractional engagement, giving client commercial teams a proprietary toolkit from day one.

Particularly useful for start-ups, scale-ups and brands building their commercial infrastructure for the first time.

Browse the shop →
OperatorToolsUK
Commercial tools built from experience
FMCG Commercial Model — flagship tool
Key Account Plan
Promotional ROI Calculator
Sales KPI Dashboard
Wholesale Distribution Tracker
B2B Sales Pipeline & Simple CRM
Sales Forecast & Revenue Model
+ 10 further tools & bundles
£14–59
Individual & bundles
£299–499
Team licence
£500–2k
Bespoke build
View on Etsy →
Get in touch

Let's talk commercial.

Whether you have a specific brief or just want to explore whether there's a fit — get in touch and we'll have a straightforward conversation. No hard sell.

→Based in the East Midlands, working nationally
→linkedin.com/company/jt-commercial-co
→OperatorToolsUK on Etsy

No hard sell. Just a conversation.

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