Meet the board of directors

Richard joined IPN in 2006 as MD, having spent a successful 19 years in the City, latterly leading the Retail M&A franchises for Credit Suisse and Rothschild. Richard, with his two Brothers, was instrumental in creating and supporting the Harringtons brand through to its market leading position today; in driving forward the major capital works across our main factories in North Yorkshire and Wales and in supporting the development of Wagg and Harringtons into their market leading positions. In December 2020, he stepped up to become Chairman.

James is the Chief Technical Officer of IPN and ‘head chef’ and has been with the company as Managing Director, CEO and now Chief Technical Officer since 2018. He loves creating value in the business as much as in the recipes and brands we make. “Looking after IPN is like being the head chef. Just like great ingredients, by sourcing, growing and developing great people and allowing them to develop amazing healthy and tasty products, our customers reward us with their loyalty.”

“I am a Commercial Pet Nutritionist in my heart”. Having graduated from Nottingham University with a degree in Animal Nutrition in 1997 he then spent the next years as a Commercial Nutritionist, then Technical Director before leading the strategic development of pet food businesses as Managing Director from 2011.

He believes making ‘great food, more affordable’ allows IPN to increasingly provide for more healthy pets and happy owners.

James is on a mission and passionate about

• bringing fresh, human food-grade quality nutrition to pets.

• developing and growing people to achieve our vision of ‘becoming the nations most loved, most sustainable home of pet care brands’.

• Championing IPNs drive and focus for sustainability and care of our People, our Pets and our Planet.

Outside of work he can be found out walking with his family and dogs and very occasionally flying a hot air balloon!

Fiona Fox is the Chief Commercial Officer of IPN, joining the Board in November 2022. Fiona is responsible for the commercial strategy & development of sales and customer partnerships across all channels & brands. She is passionate about customers & building successful joint business partnerships, and champions diversity, inclusive leadership and people & team development.

Fiona started her career at Procter & Gamble, where she worked for over a decade in various roles within Customer Business Development, Market Strategy & Planning, and Sales Leadership. Subsequently Fiona joined Mars as Sales Director in the Gulf, based in Dubai, before progressing to the role of Global Sales Director & relocating to Belgium, and finally returning to the UK to the role of European Category & Commercial Strategy Director.

Fiona has over 18yrs experience in the FMCG industry, with a career built across developed & developing markets, combining local roles with global & regional experience, and gaining a breadth of perspective from roles across strategy, sales, marketing & revenue management.

Fiona holds a 1st Class BA Hons. in International Business & Modern Languages, graduating from both the University of Strathclyde & the University Autonoma of Barcelona. Outside of work, Fiona enjoys spending time with her husband & two young children, and they have a particular passion for travel & adventure.

Anthony is the Chief Operating Officer of the IPN Group and has been with the company since 2008.

Anthony’s career started with a focus on finance at a Housing Association and then various financial roles at IPN, including CFO. Anthony is now the COO of the group and is responsible for Procurement, Operations, Logistics, IT and Retail Customer Services. Outside of work Anthony enjoys spending time with his wife and young son and watching football.

Sophie Winspear is the Group People Director of IPN, joining the board in October 2022. Sophie is focused on ensuring IPN has strong capabilities in attracting, developing, and retaining the most passionate and diverse group of people to ensure IPN achieves the vision of becoming the nations most loved, most sustainable home of pet nutrition brands. Sophie loves spending time with colleagues across all areas of the business as she wants IPN’s People strategy to be reflective of what IPN’s colleagues believe is important.

Sophie has worked across a variety of industries and is most excited by food production, having previously held roles with Nestle and most recently, Greencore. Sophie has worked within the Human Resources (HR) function for the duration of her career. Sophie has held multiple Business Partnering roles as a member of Leadership Teams as well as roles in specialist HR functional areas; Talent and Development, Recruitment, Transformation, M&A and Consulting.

Outside of work, you will find Sophie with her Labrador, Hugo, or with her horses, Percy and Freddie. Sophie has also recently added two Dartmoor lambs, Devon and Delilah, to her pack. Although the animals keep Sophie busy, she also try to squeeze in some time with her husband, Duncan!

Chris is Group Marketing Director at IPN, having joined the IPN business in May 2018.

Chris is responsible for creating a portfolio of strong, well-positioned, consumer relevant and fast growing brands across all pet channels and product categories. Chris also leads our Innovation and Product Development team as we seek to drive incremental growth, for IPN and our co-partner brands, from the combination of our depth of consumer insight and market leading nutritional capability.

Chris brings over 23 years’ experience in Marketing gained working on some of the biggest household name brands in the UK, from multi-national FMCG to PE backed businesses. Chris worked at Nestle for over 12 years first in the Nescafe business and then in the Rowntree Confectionery business unit. As Marketing Director of the Quorn business Chris started the transformation of the brand into a healthy protein and moved back into FMCG to Mars as Marketing Director of the UK food business, leading brands such as Ben’s rice and Dolmio Pasta Sauce and then as Global Brand Director for the Mars Seeds of Change organic brand.

Outside of work, Chris is a keen cyclist and enthusiastic golfer.

Ross Lumsden is the Group Corporate Development Director of IPN and has been with the company since June 2021. Ross’s role is focussed on supporting the Board assess and execute growth projects covering the continued investment in the existing platform as well as acquisition opportunities.

Ross has worked in banking for over 15 years most recently with HSBC prior to joining IPN. With a background in leverage and acquisition finance Ross has a strong network across multiple referral sources as well as direct with corporates spanning multiple sectors.

Outside of work most of Ross’s time is taken up running around after his young children, Erin and Tom, alongside wife, Jenny. You will likely find them either walking up a hill or on the beach with their English Bulldog, Lilly on the way to the pub.

Kristian joined CapVest in 2015 and is a Principal on the team. He currently also sits on the board of Curium, a leading global nuclear medicine provider. Prior to CapVest, Kristian spent five years at Morgan Stanley in London, predominantly in the Investment Banking Division working on various M&A and financing transactions in the Basic Materials and Industrials space. Kristian obtained his MSc in Technology with a majoring in corporate strategy from the Aalto University School of Science and Technology (formerly Helsinki University of Technology) in Espoo, Finland.

Matt is an Investment Director at CapVest having joined the firm in 2018. Outside of IPN, he currently sits on the board of NextPharma, a leading European pharmaceutical contract manufacturer. Prior to CapVest, he worked at Centerview Partners, an independent advisory firm, in London. There he was involved in several transactions and strategic advisory mandates for companies across consumer, healthcare and financial industries. Matt obtained his first class Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick.