Richa Bedi-Navik

Senior Global Standards Manager, BRCGS

Richa is the technical expert and Senior Standards Manager for Global Standard for Food Safety and START! at BRCGS where she is responsible for developing, maintaining the value and growth of both programs globally, while having previously managed the Storage and Distribution Standard. Richa completed her Masters degree in Food Technology - Quality Assurance at the University of Reading in the UK. During her 13-year career, Richa has worked in a variety of roles associated with food safety and quality management including food manufacturing, food service and retail sector as well as the logistics industry.  She is passionate about finding ways to successfully make sector issues tangible for a wide variety of standard users, facilitating better understanding and developing guidance on related themes to support the industry.

Dave Duncalf

Head of Chemical Technology, FoodClean

Dave is the Head of Chemical Technology at FoodClean where his role encompasses chemical product design, development, formulation and manufacture. Dave has held management roles within a number of well known companies including Astra Zeneca, Unilever, Innospec Inc as well as helping to found and direct the university spin-out companies Iota Nanosolutions and Revolymer (now Itaconix).

Alec Kyriakides

Former Head of Product Quality, Safety & Supplier Performance, Sainsbury’s

Driven by a passion for improving food safety management, Alec has a wealth of experience in the food industry, having held a number of senior technical and quality assurance roles. As the former Head of Product Quality, Safety & Supplier Performance at Sainsbury’s, Alec was responsible for the safety and quality management framework for Sainsbury’s products and suppliers. He is a member of a number of industry and government boards and committees and is the Chair of BRCGS's International Advisory Board. He is the author of several books on food borne pathogens and their control and is now an Independent Food Safety Consultant advising food businesses ranging from startups to multinational organisations.

Nikos Manouselis

Co-Founder & CEO, Agroknow

Nikos Manouselis is founder and CEO of Agroknow, the food safety intelligence company that uses AI to predict food risks and inform prevention. He is an Electronics & Computer Engineer that holds two MSc degrees, as well as a PhD on Agricultural Information Management. With more than 15 years of expertise in the intersection of data and technology for food and agriculture, he is frequently working with industry, academia and international organizations on ways in which state-of-art technologies may be used to help solve critical challenges in the food supply chain.

Phil May

Group Hygiene Manager, Greencore

As an experienced hygiene manager with over 15 years spanning the meat, fresh produce and ready-to-eat sectors, Phil is passionate about improving hygiene and exploring new ways of working.  This includes focusing on elevating hygiene standards, while also moving towards more efficient and sustainable practices.  For the past 4 years, Phil has been in a hygiene-focused role at Greencore and is now Group Hygiene Manager, supporting site hygiene managers across the group and being present to provide specialist hygiene awareness across all group functions. 

Kelsey McEvoy

Global Quality Systems Manager, Kerry Group

Following a PhD in Microbiology, Kelsey ventured into Industry with the intention of filling a gap between research projects, and nine years later, has worked up through the ranks to her current position as Global Quality Systems Manager for Kerry Group. Kelsey has 7 years’ experience in factory settings fulfilling a variety of roles, including managing hygiene and microbiology, food safety systems, quality assurance and quality control in Kerry’s dairy and infant formula manufacturing sites. Advancement of Kerry’s food safety systems through innovation has been core to her role for the last two years as Global Quality Systems Manager, and Kelsey is passionate to continue this through collaboration and knowledge sharing, both within Kerry and within the Food Industry as a whole.

John Michael Piggott

EU Head of Food Safety, Amazon

Dr John Michael Piggott is the Head FSC Private Brands (EU), for Amazon WW Food Safety and Compliance. John Michael has over 20 years of experience of management, microbiology, quality and regulatory practice across the clinical diagnostic, food, public health, product certification, inspection and the medical device sectors. He has experience of operating on a global stage dealing with national and international governmental, regulatory, public health and industry stakeholders on areas of microbiology, quality and regulatory compliance.

Katie Satterthwaite

Factory Standards Manager, Marks & Spencer

As a Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, Katie has extensive operational and strategic food hygiene auditing experience within the public and private sectors, and is a recognised hygiene expert. She is highly experienced at working collaboratively in-country to upskill suppliers and find realistic solutions to achieve compliance with M&S' exacting standards. In her current role as Factory Standards Manager for Marks & Spencer, Katie is responsible for writing and upholding Food Safety, Integrity and Animal Welfare standards for the manufacturing of foods within the worldwide M&S supply base, as well as writing and contract-managing the food safety inspection of UK stores and depots.

Helen Taylor

Technical Director, ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Met University

Helen has been operating in senior technical roles within food, drink, and packaging supply chains for over 30 years. As the Technical Director of ZERO2FIVE, Cardiff Metropolitan University, she leads the technical team to actively work with companies across all product categories in the UK in all aspects of food safety and compliance. Helen is an active collaborator as a member of the International Association of Food Protection since 2009. She has served on the European Scientific committee for more than six years and is an active member of the UK affiliate since 2007 and is the past Chair of the European Symposium Scientific committee. Recently serving as a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), Chair of the Wales Branch (IFST). Helen currently serves on the Welsh Food Advisory Committee (Food Standards Agency). She is an experienced SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) auditor and member of the technical Advisory Committee. A serving member of the BRCGS START! Standard working group and a member of the UK food safety research Network UK – Innovation Board.

Denis Treacy

Former Chief Officer for Safety and Quality, Pladis Global

Denis Treacy has over 40 years' experience in FMCG roles, with the last 5 years as Global President of Safety, Quality, Security & Environment for Pladis Global, a $5bn Food Snacking leader, with 34 manufacturing sites across 13 countries, 26,000 employees and 4bn consumers. After 10 years in scientific roles, he spent the next 30 years in leadership, focused on safeguarding and governance of people, brands, assets and business integrity.  Now with his own consulting company, Culture Compass, Denis is a recognised Food Industry Leader, with a proven record of step changing safety, food safety and quality performance and leading business continuity and crisis management teams across global businesses, through energising, collaborative and motivational leadership.

Marissa Schwoch

Food Microbiology Consultant

For the past 12 years Marissa has run her own independent microbiology consultancy business, Food Microbiology Solutions Ltd. She helps businesses and organisations of all sizes understand and control microbiological hazards to improve food safety standards. Marissa is an IFST registered auditor and mentor, SALSA auditor and HACCP trainer. She delivers food microbiology training courses for SALSA, retailers and food businesses. Marissa sits on the technical committee of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association (SCA) and provides technical support and training to SCA members and Enforcement Officers. Before starting her own business, Marissa worked in food safety roles at Sainsbury’s and Arla Foods, including Group Food Safety Manager for Arla UK.