Can Britain become an exporting superpower?

Katie, a graduate of International History from LSE, has worked at IMTA for almost 12 years and took over as CEO in April 2019. She has led the association through Brexit, covid and various other challenges in recent years. Katie is an expert in international trade, SPS and customs. She holds a Diploma in World Customs Compliance and Regulations with The Institute of Export. In 2023 Katie made the top 100 most influential women in the inaugural Trade Association Forum 'Women in Trade Associations Power list'. Katie won the 2023 Women in Meat award in the Trade Organisation category. IMTA represents UK importers and exporters of beef, lamb, pork & poultry meat and supports two-way trade.

Before joining the family business in 2004, Nagma studied fashion design and marketing in Manchester before seeking a new challenge which saw Nagma single-handedly set up a restaurant and bar in Islington that quickly became a go-to venue. She sold the business in 2002 and returned to her home in the Northeast which lead her to join her family’s business which was a relatively small operation. In 2006 plans were made to invest in the development of a dedicated processing plant, and by the following year Prima Cheese had become a limited company, with Nagma taking the role of commercial director in 2010. In 2010, Nagma had ambitions to extend the company’s domestic presence not international markets. Establishing and assembling an export team over the next few years enabled the company to grow their presence to supply Prima products to over 50 countries across the globe by 2019 In 2020, recognition for Nagma’s work came in the form of an MBE for ‘Services to International Trade’. And, more recently, she has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration by the University of Sunderland. Nagma is currently co-CEO of Prima, alongside her brother Nima Beni. She has since moved back to London to establish a new marketing and commercial hub for Prima in Islington. Prima South now works in tandem with Prima North to ensure the company continues its growth. Nagma retains her links with the northeast and is active in the Northeast Chamber of Commerce as chair of the Race, Ethnicity and Discrimination Committee, chair of the International Trade Commission, and standing vice president.

Nicola is an award-winning food and drink export specialist with over 20 years hand- on and strategic experience of helping ambitious manufacturers and wholesalers accelerate their expansion into overseas markets. She advises and mentors SME and mid-market management teams to enable them to break through the external and internal ‘pain points’ associated with exporting and to deliver sustainable and profitable international growth. Nicola has also designed and delivered a wide range of export support programmes for organisations including the Department of Business and Trade, Scotland Food and Drink, Food and Drink Wales and Santander Bank. She is a Director of the UK Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) which is a thriving community of over 500 active exporters, dedicated in-market experts in 25+ territories around the world and experts in all aspects of international trade. The FDEA provides practical support for companies expanding overseas through a packed programme of insights, roundtables, focus groups, Network Forums and member meet ups. Nicola is a regular contributor at industry events and to trade journals/portals on current and evergreen export topics including Prioritising Export Markets, Scaling Up For Export Growth, Building High Performance Distributor Networks and Leveraging Global Trends To Grow Sales Overseas.

Ian Wright is a senior management adviser. He draws on over three decades of experience at ExCom and Board level in a series of major global businesses. He currently chairs the UK Government’s Food & Drink Export Council. He is a Partner at risk and reputation advisors Acuti Associates and a director of private equity business Titan Partners. He also writes a regular column for The Grocer. From 2015-2021 he was Chief Executive of the Food & Drink Federation, the voice of UK food and drink manufacturing. In that time the FDF was transformed: becoming the most visible and one of the most admired representative organisations in UK business. On the UK EU exit, the Industry response to Covid-19 and supply chain disruption & labour shortages, Ian has become one of the most respected voices on UK media. At Easter 2021 Ian and the FDF were the first to identify inflation as a major threat to the UK economy, predicting it would reach high single digits within 12 months. Before the FDF, Ian spent 14 years with Diageo plc, six of them as a member of the global executive committee. He previously worked for Boots The Chemist, Mars Confectionery and had spells in consultancy and politics. His public service experience includes membership of the UK Government Trade & Agriculture Commission and as the leader of a series of Cabinet Office reviews of Government agencies including Defence & Supply and Porton Down. In addition to his work for The Grocer he is a very regular broadcaster, speaker and frequently writes for media outlets. He was awarded the CBE for political and public service in August 2015.

Bethan Grylls is the Editor of Food Manufacture, which commands the largest audience of any online platform dedicated solely to readers working in the UK food and drink manufacturing industry. Prior to joining Food Manufacture (part of the William Reed group), she led New Food Magazine’s content team. She has been working as a professional writer for more than a decade and was responsible for organising one of the world’s largest virtual, scientific food and beverage conferences in 2021. Bethan is a regular speaker at food and drink events and chairs Food Manufacture’s esteemed Business Leaders Forum, she is also the host for the brand’s prestigious food and drink awards, and a well-respected thought-leader in her field. Bethan serves as a technical advisor on the Clean Label Project’s UK board and is a judge for Ecotrophelia 2023. She is also responsible for National Butcher’s Week, a social event operated under the Meat Trades Journal brand.