At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead key foodservice accounts and build strong client relationships across various sectors.
- Company: Dynamic food solutions business with a collaborative and ambitious culture.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, company car or allowance, profit-sharing, and private healthcare.
- Other info: Opportunity for career progression and meaningful financial participation as the business grows.
- Why this job: Enjoy genuine autonomy and make a real impact in a growing team.
- Qualifications: Strong foodservice experience and proven relationship-building skills required.
This role gives you both responsibility and control. You will manage around 10-12 accounts across foodservice channels including education, leisure, hospitality, contract catering, B&I and themed attractions. Some will be deep strategic partnerships while others will be more established, lighter-touch relationships. The skill is knowing which is which.
This is not just a relationship job; it’s a commercial role for someone who can walk into a client site, understand how the operation really works, and spot opportunities where others see routine visits.
You will own the growth of your portfolio, working closely with commercial, culinary, development and regional teams to increase volume, protect margin, open doors, secure renewals and turn good relationships into more profitable ones.
The package includes a salary around £60,000, company car or £5,000 allowance, private healthcare, mileage support and an annual profit-share bonus. There is also longer-term upside through an Employee Ownership Trust.
There will be travel across the UK, so you need to be comfortable with Scotland one week, the South Coast another, and around five overnight stays a month. Hotels are provided for longer journeys.
What you’ll be doing:
- Leading a portfolio of key foodservice accounts across multiple sectors.
- Building senior relationships that go beyond buyer-supplier conversations.
- Managing budgets, pricing discussions, renewals, negotiations, retention plans and margin performance.
- Looking for growth through new listings, upselling, concept expansion and better use of existing products and services.
- Building proper account plans, mapping stakeholders, understanding each site's operation and feeding useful market insight back into the business.
- Working independently, managing your own diary and bringing solutions rather than problems.
What you’ll need:
- Strong foodservice experience in a senior account, commercial, client relationship or operational leadership role.
- Education catering experience is useful, but experience across other channels will be especially interesting.
- Confidence to push doors open without being pushy, read people properly, challenge where needed and build credibility quickly.
- A CV that shows some staying power; the business invests in people.
- Honesty and a genuine commitment to doing a good job.
About the company:
It’s a growing food solutions business operating as an Employee Ownership Trust, aiming to work as a proper commercial and culinary partner, embedded in the clients' operations. The culture is collaborative, ambitious and refreshingly direct, seeking people who think commercially, act with integrity and build lasting relationships.
What you’ll get:
- c.£60,000 base salary
- Company car or £5,000 car allowance
- Annual profit-share bonus
- Private healthcare
- Mileage support
- Hotel provided for journeys over 100 miles from home
- Long-term EOT financial participation
- Direct access to the Director of National Accounts
- Genuine autonomy over your accounts and diary
- A growing team with future progression potential
Client Director employer: Wills Talent Ltd
As a Client Director at our innovative Food Solutions company, you will thrive in a dynamic work culture that values autonomy and empowers you to drive growth within your portfolio. With competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits including private healthcare, and ample opportunities for professional development, we are committed to fostering your career while ensuring a supportive and collaborative environment. Join us in a field-based role that not only offers flexibility but also the chance to make a meaningful impact across the UK.
