Job title:

Billingsgate Market Business Development Manager

Consultancy fee:

£4,000/month plus up to £500 expenses/month

Contract:

Initially to September 2010 (may be extended to March 2012)

Location:

Billingsgate Market, London

LFMA Contact:

Strategic management and coordination of all Business Development Manager posts on behalf of GLA:

Billingsgate Market: Don Tyler

EBS Consulting: Alan Elder

Context:

The Business Development Manager based at Billingsgate Market will play a crucial role in assisting the delivery of the London Food Strategy: Healthy and Sustainable Food for London: published in May 2006. The Strategy sets out a vision for the future of London’s food system and outlines the key actions and support required to achieve the ambition of making the capital’s food system healthier and more environmentally sustainable, whilst promoting opportunities for sustainable suppliers, with high ethical and environmental standards of production, to sell into the London market.

The role will involve working with Billingsgate market traders to help connect suppliers of sustainable seafood with caterers, retailers and other market outlets, and with the networks and brokers that support them, to promote the market for sustainable seafood, with reliable and verifiable provenance and sustainability credentials.

Core responsibilities:

Provide advice and guidance to Billingsgate Market tenants on business development opportunities that will help improve the financial viability of their businesses and create and sustain employment at the market and up and down the supply chain for sustainable seafood into London.

Provide a business support and signposting service to Billingsgate Market tenants to assist them in growing their infrastructure, supplier and customer bases to help increase their capacity to trade in sustainable seafood.

Provide market intelligence on suppliers of sustainable seafood  and customer trends and related business development opportunities to Billingsgate Market tenants. This will include communicating the ambitions and standards for sustainable seafood of the catering providers for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and surrounding events, to suppliers, processors and caterers.

Undertake assessment of current business development activities of Billingsgate Market and identify and act upon potential gaps and opportunities to increase the volume and proportion of sustainable seafood, and to decrease the volume and proportion of unsustainable seafood, traded through the market. This could include assessing transport and distribution options.

Advise and assist Billingsgate Market tenants in securing sustainable seafood contracts for public sector institutions, or clusters of such institutions.

Promote the use and reputation of Billingsgate Market as a supply source of sustainable seafood, including providing advice to Traders about appropriate descriptions for seafood products and avoiding ‘greenwash’ that might damage the reputation of the Market.

Assist Billingsgate Market tenants to increase their trade of certified sustainable wild-caught seafood meeting the UN’s Food and Agriculture Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (mainly Marine Stewardship Council), and put in place systems to uphold the 'chain of custody' for this provenance and certification through the supply chain, to maintain the value and credibility of this produce. This will include facilitating trading arrangements with alternative suppliers where appropriate.

Assist Billingsgate Market tenants to increase their trade of demonstrably sustainable farmed finfish and shellfish, and to become a market for new Aquaculture Stewardship Council certified farmed fish as it becomes available (standards-development currently in progress).

Work with external organisations to help increase demand for certified sustainable seafood and stimulate supply chain responses to this demand through Billingsgate Market, working where appropriate with projects including, among others, Billingsgate Seafood Training School, Good Catch, Good Food on the Public Plate, Ethical Eats, the Sustainable Restaurants Association and catering service providers to the London 2012 Olympic Games. And, where appropriate, encourage the involvement of Billingsgate Market tenants in sustainable seafood initiatives operated by external bodies. This will include working to secure funds from appropriate public and private sources to assist with the delivery of the project objectives.

Assist Billingsgate Market tenants in their ability to identify and exclude endangered species and stocks from the supply chain. And help them demonstrate and verify that this has happened ("endangered" being defined by us as Marine Conservation Society 'fish to avoid' list and appearance on the IUCN 'red list'), and to direct customers to sustainable alternative choices.

Support suppliers with provenance and traceability issues, particularly in relation to the increasing demand from public and private sectors for sustainable seafood.

Assist Billingsgate Market tenants to satisfy reliable and verifiable compliance regulations in relation to the new EU regulations to be enforced from 2010, for excluding IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fish from the supply chain and improving traceability.

Work with Billingsgate Market traders and the London seafood supply chain to facilitate, support and promote education, training and awareness-raising about sustainable seafood.

Key dimensions to role:

Undertake activities with the market to help promote the use and reputation of Billingsgate Market as a source of sustainable seafood (which is also taking a principled, reliable and verifiable approach to 'excluding the worst', 'promoting the best' and 'taking a sustainable approach for the rest', using recognised and reputable criteria to do so). This could include development of a Billingsgate sustainable seafood policy and public communication messages, wholesale promotion strategy-events, trade days, training events and other activities for suppliers and customers

Ensure that market policies and communications are consistent with a sustainable seafood approach, with expert input from regulatory, trade, scientific and conservation organisations where appropriate.

Establish and maintain working relationships with Billingsgate Market tenants to help facilitate effective monitoring and tracking of impact of advice and business support given.

Ensure collaboration opportunities amongst the six London wholesale markets are acted on where appropriate.

Ensure linkages are made with other Local Food Infrastructure project strands and other food programmes where appropriate.

Completion of performance monitoring activity, milestone and output proforma on a monthly basis and assistance in accessing beneficiaries for output verification.

In liaison with EBS Consulting, GLA and suitable expert advisors (from trade and conservation bodies), put in place a system to monitor the effectiveness and influence of these activities to enable refinement of the intervention and assessment of its usefulness over time. This will include the development of a baseline position against which to measure progress.

Provision of regular reports and presentations to market tenant association meetings, Board meetings, Steering Group meetings, etc, usually on a monthly basis.

Work with EBS Consulting, GLA and key stakeholders (including the London Food Board) to develop an ‘exit strategy’, which may be to identify opportunities for the long-term financing of this role by other means than GLA funding.

Key performance targets (April to September 2010):

1. Provide business support to 35 companies

A business supported is defined as one which has received information and advice from the BDM that results in increased trade for that business. Where possible, this increased trade will be measured in volume or value terms. The same business can be supported by the BDM on a number of occasions provided the information and advice given each time results in additional increased trade for that business within the London sustainable food supply chain

2. Increase the volume and proportion of sustainable fish traded through Billingsgate Market and decrease the volume and proportion of unsustainable fish, traded through Billingsgate Market (numeric targets to be established)

Further targets and a milestone schedule relating to the above core responsibilites will be developed in consultation with LFMA

Consultant person specification:

Education:

• Educated to at least degree level or equivalent

Experience:

• Worked within the food sector for 5 years

Knowledge:

• Detailed understanding of the food supply chain and wholesale market operation
• Knowledge of seafood sustainability
• Knowledge of key organisations involved in assisting the sustainable food sector (e.g. Sustain, local food group partnerships, Regional Development Agencies, etc)

Key competencies:

• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders to achieve common goals
• Strong interpersonal and networking skills
• Good understanding of business planning
• Project management skills
• Excellent communication skills

Personal attributes:

• Strong organisational abilities
• Self-starter and able to work without close supervision
• Driving licence
• Ability to work out of normal office hours
• Strong interest in and commitment to the sustainable food sector
• Able to deal with commercially sensitive information