Community Connect: Bradford

Chris Aldersley

Chief Operating Officer, Cranswick plc

Chris was born and bred in Yorkshire and his love of the meat industry was evident when he started helping in a butcher’s shop at the age of 9.  He joined Cranswick in 1998 and worked through a number of operational roles before his appointment to Chief Operating Officer for the Group in 2015.  His role is to manage the Cranswick operations which includes the farming businesses as well as the 23 manufacturing facilities across the group.

As a business that employs over 14,000 colleagues, Chris is passionate about how we can attract, recruit and develop people into the industry and help to reshape some of the old-fashioned perceptions of the sector.  Chris is always keen to mentor and support individuals throughout their careers, focussing on an individual’s skills, commitment, and passion rather than any of the pre-determined stereotypes.

Jodie Bolland

UK Agriculture Sourcing Director, Woodhead Brothers

Working for Woodhead Brothers since 2011, Jodie has covered a variety of roles in the meat sector.
Her current role sees her lead the Agricultural sourcing teams for Beef, Pork, Lamb and Eggs. She also manages the business’ raw material ingredients sourcing for Myton Manufacturing businesses in addition to heading up the Meat & Eggs sales teams. Promoted to UK Agricultural Sourcing Director in April 2024.

Jodie has a particular passion for British farming and being close to customers and suppliers to deliver high quality products that complement our great British landscape. Jodie is keen to make sure that the British meat industry is one that will be around in years to come and to ensure the future is bright.

Jodie was brought up on a dairy farm in Malhamdale, North Yorkshire where her passion for agriculture started.

Tim Farrar

Operations Director Meat, Eggs & Pet Manufacturing, Wm Morrisons Manufacturing

Tim studied Agri Food Marketing and Business Studies at Harper Adams University, before beginning his career in the meat industry at Dean Foods and Kepak.  In 2006, he joined Morrisons’ manufacturing as Production Manager at Farmers Boy in Bradford, our manufacturing site for cooked meats, cheese, pies, sausage rolls, quiche and bacon.  In 2008, Tim was promoted to General Manager at our meat manufacturing site at Colne, then holding the same role at Spalding.  In 2012, Tim moved to Winsford, our manufacturing site for burgers, meat balls, mince and pre-pack steaks and chops, as General Manager, where he was heavily involved in the integration of the site from Vion to Morrisons. The following year, Tim was promoted to site General Manager for our farmers Boy site. 

Early 2016 saw Tim’s most recent move, promoted to Head of Operations for Meat Manufacturing, heading three abattoirs and one retail meat packaging site with an annual turnover of £851m.

April 2024 Tim was promoted to Operations Director for Meat Manufacturing & Chippindale Eggs.

Tim lives in Skipton, North Yorkshire with his wife Alice, and 9 year old son Charlie and 6 old daughter Lotty.  

Sally Molyneux

Global Account Director, KP Films

Sally Molyneux is the Global Account Director for trays and flexibles at Klöckner Pentaplast, where she leads a sales team that delivers sustainable and innovative packaging solutions to customers across the UK, Ireland, Australia, and other global markets. With over thirteen years of experience in the packaging industry, Sally has a strategic vision and a proven track record of exceeding targets, managing teams, securing large contracts, and expanding her customer base.

Deborah Ogden

Personal Branding Expert & Coach,

Deborah Ogden is an internationally respected speaker on personal branding and impact.  She is also host of two podcasts, ‘On Brand With…’, sharing stories of personal brand in the real world, and ‘More Impact’ a weekly shot of impact inspiration.

Whether it’s building profile, winning more contracts, or pitching and presenting with confidence, working globally, Deborah’s expertise has delivered breakthrough results time after time for businesses and individuals.

She has 30 years experience working on the brand and image of some high-profile names including Old Trafford Cricket Ground, the British Heart Foundation and Co-operative Insurance (CIS).  Deborah has made an impact with organisations and individuals up and down the country including:  Tesco; Ernst & Young, Sheffield Forgemasters, Pinsent Masons, the University of Law and Polypipe - she brings first-hand experience of the power of personal branding both on a corporate and individual level.

Her approach centres around building profile as a visible expert and increasing personal impact using her Impact Method: ‘Clarity, Communicate, Capitalise’.

Having trained as a solicitor, Deborah has a strong background in professional services giving her an in-depth and real world understanding of the importance of backing up content with strong presentation.

Deborah is a regular commentator for BBC Radio and the press, featuring in national publications including Daily Mail, Express, Essentials and Stylist magazine and had her work published in Your Success, a personal development book. 

Kal Rai

Head of Technical and Sustainability ,

Kal’s most recent role was Head of Technical & Responsible Business for Samworth Brothers, where she spent 7 years. Her role covered the protein category, covering four manufacturing sites. Previous she has held technical roles at Ornua Foods and Bakkavor. She has recently taken the decision to take a career-break to spend more time with the family, which will offer a really interesting perspective for our panel.

Liz Taylor

Commercial Director Fresh, Morrisons

Following a degree in Food Science from the University of Leeds, Liz started her career in retail at Asda where she spent almost a decade in a variety of ambient, frozen and fresh buying roles. Being very keen foodie Liz then took the opportunity to join M&S where she ran both Ambient and then subsequently Fresh commercial divisions before joining Morrisons in 2019.

Liz is currently the Commercial Director for Fresh and Frozen Foods at Morrisons and has full P&L accountability across a c.£6bn turnover portfolio of categories including the iconic Market Street counters.

Originally from Lincolnshire, Liz now lives near York with her wife Kate, their two children Annabel and William who are 3 and 2 respectively and Suzie the yellow Labrador.