Management Team

• 
  March Hancock
  Chairman
  

  March Hancock

  Chairman

  march@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  After completing, in his mid 20’s, a 2 year Post Graduate Business Course with spells in the UK, France and Germany, he took up UK and European marketing posts that included working for a major Wine & Spirit wholesaler, an international Brewer (Whitbread/Inbev), a Swiss based Travel Organisation and culminating for 6 years, as the CEO of Best Western Hotels. In late 1989 March formed Pelican Buying as a Food/Drinks Buying Consortium supporting independent businesses in the Hospitality Industry. In the last 21 years with a Team of 60+ committed professionals, the Company now also includes a very substantial presence in food procurement within the Education and Public Sectors.
• 
  Shabaz Mohammed
  Managing Director
  

  Shabaz Mohammed

  Managing Director

  shabaz@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Shabaz Mohammed started his working career in the Royal Air Force as an engineering officer responsible for the operational functionality of a phantom air defence squadrons. Six years later he embarked on a purchasing career with Mars Inc. purchasing factory production lines and machinery before moving to ingredient purchasing for Uncle Bens, Dolmio and Tyne brands. He later progressed to purchasing with a national wholesale food distributor and then with a contract caterer. For the last 17 years Shabaz has been with Pelican, where his early years was involved in developing purchasing systems and more recently, his responsibility is to ensure that Pelican continues to deliver value to its customers.
• 
  Stephen Tennant
  Sales & Marketing Director
  

  Stephen Tennant

  Sales & Marketing Director

  stephen@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  As Marketing and Sales Director, Stephen joined Pelican in 2009, prior to which, has enjoyed a successful international career with leading organisations in the UK, Europe and USA.
• 
  Christine Stimpson
  HR Director & Company Secretary
  

  Christine Stimpson

  HR Director & Company Secretary

  christine@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Pelican’s HR Director and Company Secretary joined Pelican in 1996, prior to which, she enjoyed a successful general management career in the entertainment industry in both the UK and USA. In 2004 she was awarded an MSc in Human Resource Management and became a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD the following year.
• 
  Martin Hudson
  Procurement & Supply Chain Manager
  

  Martin Hudson

  Procurement & Supply Chain Manager

  martin@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  As Procurement and Supply Chain Manager, Martin is responsible for all procurement activity within the company. Martin has in excess of 12 years procurement experience within the Foodservice Industry and holds a BA(Hons) in Hospitality Management.
• 
  Chris Carr-Barney
  Purchasing Manager
  

  Chris Carr-Barney

  Purchasing Manager

  chris.carrbarney@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Pelican’s Purchasing Manager has worked extensively within procurement and project management roles across number of different sectors, including retail, foodservice as well as contract catering. Chris manages a team of seven experienced buyers and analysts, who look after Pelican’s wide portfolio of suppliers across a number of categories. The team also produces vital information on market trends as well as reporting on company and category performance.
• 
  Ian Holliday
  Hospitality Sales Manager
  

  Ian Holliday

  Hospitality Sales Manager

  ian.holliday@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  As Hospitality Sales Manager at Pelican Ian oversees a professional team of 13 staff. His job is to ensure the team understands the changing needs of our customer base; have the skills required to match the right suppliers to those needs; and provide the correct information to enable customers to make the right purchasing decisions. Ian has a great deal of experience in the Foodservice industry, before joining Pelican he worked for 21 years for 3663 and Brakes.
• 
  Gill Sidall
  Client Services Manager
  

  Gill Sidall

  Client Services Manager

  gill@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Gill is Client Services Manager for the Education Sector and she has been at Pelican for 10 years. Currently Gill manages a team of seven purchasing advisors, and both she and the team strive to deliver a high level service that is responsive to the individual needs of our customers. Prior to Joining Pelican Gill enjoyed 16 years with a major food wholesaler where she acquired a wealth of foodservice experience.
• 
  Mike Crawshaw
  Business Development Controller
  

  Mike Crawshaw

  Business Development Controller

  mike@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Joined Pelican in May 2002 as National Sales Manager for Pelican’s Hospitality Division, after having had 16 years of Sales and Marketing experience at Scottish & Newcastle (now Heineken UK). In January 2011, Mike moved into the newly created position of Business Development Controller responsible for managing Pelican’s existing relationships with key trade bodies and identifying new business opportunities/markets for Pelican to grow its business.
• 
  Margaret Poulton
  Senior Contract Manager
  

  Margaret Poulton

  Senior Contract Manager

  margaret@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Based in the procurement office of Birmingham City Council, Margaret and her team manage the tender programme for EU compliant contracts for Food, Beers, Wines & Spirits, Disposables and Light Catering Equipment, current annual value £14m. Additionally the team deals with all customer queries, product innovation and supply chain management. Margaret, who has worked for Pelican for 10 years, managed the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium Food Purchasing contract for 4 years prior to Pelican winning the contract with Birmingham City Council in July 2005. Prior to joining Pelican, Margaret worked in for a major national foodservice supplier, ran a pub and also worked for a Local Authority.
• 
  Gary Cottrell
  Finance Manager
  

  Gary Cottrell

  Finance Manager

  Gary@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Gary joined Pelican as Financial Controller in November 2004, having spent the first part of his career in Accountancy Practices. As a Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians, Gary transferred his extensive knowledge and experience gained in practice to the corporate arena. Gary heads up Pelican’s Finance Department, responsible for managing all aspects of finance and legislative compliance for the company.
• 
  Mark Hall
  IT Manager
  

  Mark Hall

  IT Manager

  MarkHall@pelicanbuying.co.uk

  

  Having experience in a wide range of industries in a variety of IT related roles, Mark joined Pelican full time after working for several years for them as an independent IT consultant. Mark administers Pelican's IT infrastructure; his team are constantly working to develop and improve the IT systems to ensure that information is easily accessible both to internal and external customers.