Moving on and passing over the Baton

Moving on and passing over the Baton

I am over the moon, delighted, ecstatic, floating on air and to be honest, a little bit nervous to change my current position to be “Travelling the world” 😊 I am hanging up my laptop bag to go explore the world

 

I have always loved work, its always been my passion and my priority in life, for better or worst, however after 32 years of working my arse off more than Full Time I am handing things over to a very capable and great guy Tony Holmes the new Managing Director and also more widely to a very capable and totally cool new team members Richard Northridge Angie Turner Ben Simmons Tony Holmes

 

From the very best sales training from Rob Caley at Coca-Cola, through to Michelle White at Evian & Volvic who could easily have fired my arse several times, but for some reason believed in me, then onto Jonathan Cottor, MBA, MPH who gave me the big jump from KAM to NAM @ General Mills, to today and most importantly the current and past team members of Lacka Foods and the UFIT brand

 

I started Lacka Foods in 2012 with a strongly held belief that I could do things better and faster than the big companies I had always worked for, to launch the company and the brand it included putting in my General Mills redundancy, then an additional £200,000 of loans secured against my house arranged by the amazing Ian Baker , then having to sell my house (thanks to my wife Tracy for agreeing to this), working 2 jobs for 12 months, living with no salary for 2 years, massive amounts of sweat and tears, it feels like the Dragons Den dream, but better than that I led the team in gaining investment of £800k for 25%, can you imagine that on Dragons Den ? Especially when the company only just about broke even 😊 I started Lacka Foods from my back bedroom, working for 4 years before funding enabled us to move into offices in Marlow and grow the team, to today’s ££m in sales and “££ undisclosed profit😊” with a team of 16 people, and now owned by Weetabix

 

Special shout out to Huw Miller who against all the odds gave me a job @ Haagen Dazs and then helped me gain promotion to the Jus-Rol team where I learned how to bring a new product to market which led to the birth of first Be Fast and then UFIT, we remained great friends from then which was fundamental to launching UFIT. I based the culture of Lacka Foods on the culture of the old Jus-Rol team, we worked hard, definitely played hard, and involved the factory guys in everything we did, this was the main reason for our success and I will forever be thankful for the skills and experience those guys taught me

 

UFIT’s No.1 position in the Protein Drinks category is a result of the whole team effort. From UFIT’s launch in 2014 in Tesco and then the hard 4 year slog to the 2nd multiple listing in 2018 launching in Asda & Morrisons, special thanks go to all the buyers who believed in the UFIT brand and helped propel UFIT upto the giddy heights we now find ourselves

 

Thanks to Weetabix and Post Holdings for being a great partner who acquired the business in 2022, real class from Helen Wilson James Rogers Karolina A. Pioro Colm O'Dwyer Sally Abbott Ben Simmons , they promised to leave UFIT to our own devices and they delivered on that promise

 

So it’s now good bye to the UFIT Team who are currently kicking arse in the category and will continue to do so whilst also developing new ideas and concepts over the next few years, I am so looking forward to walking into a store and seeing some of the new NPD live in store. The people is what I am going to miss most, our goal when we launched UFIT was to be listed in every supermarket and convenience store which we have now achieved, its amazing to hear constantly from people “I see you everywhere”, that’s an amazing buzz that’s as strong today as in the first early days. As a team we have conquered and won together. Team work has been absolutely crucial, and every single member of the team from every department has worked so hard to deliver the results we see on a monthly basis, the things that I will remember most are our social events and celebrations, our first £1m month we went to Amsterdam for the day, our first £2m sales month we went to Jersey and the first £3m month we went to Luxembourg, along the way we have been to the finest bars and restaurant in London, Amsterdam, Belgium, Dublin, Belfast, Berlin, Munich, Majorca and even a sales meeting in Barbados 😊 We changed our Christmas party to Ladies Day @ Royal Ascot and each year went a bit “posher” ending up just below the Royal Enclosure, I am really gutted I wont be there next year with you guys !

 

Finally a very special goodbye but really “see you soon” to my very special rock, my step daughter, my big sister, Zoe Austin . I absolutely love Zo as a family member. Zo joined me in October 2012 as Lacka Foods first employee, working from my house for the first 4 years ! She saw all of the highs and lows, and in the early days there really were plenty of challenging lows ! She has kicked my arse many times over the years and always been there to push for better results and also moral support. She should have left the company quite a few times over the years, but she stayed and stuck with the vision of a successful brand. Her dedication and loyalty is second to none. She now stays on as the longest standing member of the team with over 12 years’ service, I’m going to miss seeing her everyday and being put straight and told off, I’m going to miss her advice, her care and her compassion, she is the mum of Lacka Foods, the feeder, the social organiser, and a stock production, forecasting and management genius ! True friends for life 😊

 

Right now I’m set to travel the world, thanks for a great send off everyone @UFIT, Terry Adams Matt Kenna Matt Wade Jake Newman Lee Thomas Radoslav Bezeg Chris Mitchell Jami-Lee Gray @maya @sharon Chloe Pert @ I absolutely loved growing the brand and the company and wish everyone all the very best

Mark Elderkin

Fractional CMO | Strategy Director | Transforming Brands with Purpose: 25+ Years of Expertise in Food & Drink Marketing | Bridging Creativity, Culture & AI for Growth

3mo

Congrats Austin Bailey - and good for you! I remember the early days of UFit when I was working in protein drinks too - well, you stayed the course and had the last laugh! Huge well done 👏

Denis Murphy

Founder and CEO at Brand Nudge | ex Mars | ex Heinz |

3mo

Austin, you’ve truly earned every success with your natural flare and “find a way” mindset. Wherever you go you’ll be supported by people because you always support others and I admire that within you. Some of the work jolly’s here sound amazing too. May the wind often if not always be at your back! Hope to see you soon.

Huge congratulations Austin Bailey! Is it really 12 years since we worked together when you secured that first £200k loan. Your tenacity and determination, not to say all that hard work, has paid off - happy travelling, you deserve a break. All the best, Sue

Jeremy G.

Commercial Director @ MyDD Points | HND in Business Studies

4mo

Good luck Austin, all the very best for your travels!

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