You have a brand. It needs to sell somewhere it isn’t selling yet.
Maybe that is a new market, a distributor who has gone quiet, or pricing that leaves nothing for anyone in the middle. Most advice in this category comes from people who have read about it. This comes from thirteen years of doing it. Six markets, a brand taken from £1,500 to a £5M exit, and the distribution deals that made each of them work.
Rob Harvey
TRAILHEAD COMMERCIAL
There is no account manager and no junior team. The person who scopes the work is the person who does it.
PRC-01
Value chain
- 01Factory gateCost of goods, ex works
- 02LandedFreight, duty, excise where it applies
- 03DistributorTheir margin, and whether it holds
- 04WholesaleDepot terms, listing costs, rebates
- 05RetailShelf margin the buyer will actually accept
- 06ShelfWhat the consumer pays
Margins are redacted because they are yours. Modelling them for every party in the chain, and finding where the ladder stops holding, is usually the first week of the work.
SVC
4 facings
What we are usually brought in to do
SVC-01
Market entry
Taking a brand into a market it has never sold in. Regulatory lay of the land, distributor shortlist, pricing that survives the value chain, and the first orders on the board. UK, EU, DACH, Sweden.
SVC-02
Route to market
Deciding which doors are worth knocking on and in what order. Channel strategy across D2C, retail and wholesale, and the commercial terms that make each one work rather than just look busy.
SVC-03
Pricing and portfolio
Pricing architecture from factory gate to shelf, margin modelling for every party in the chain, and SKU rationalisation for ranges that grew faster than they were planned.
SVC-04
Interim commercial leadership
Running the commercial function directly while you hire, or while the business is too early to justify a permanent director. Sales, distribution and the numbers that follow them.
CATEGORIES WORKED
- Nicotine Pouches
- Vaping
- Caffeine Pouches
- CBD
- Reduced-Risk
- FMCG
- D2C
- UK and Europe
LIVE
On shelf
Current work
Live engagements, running now. Work in progress rather than a case study: results get published when there are results to publish.
Qola
LiveAUG 2026 TO DATE
UK and EU commercial
Nicotine pouch brand entering the UK and EU. Route to market across distribution and retail, pricing architecture that holds through the value chain, and the named account work that turns a listing conversation into a first order. Initial term runs to November 2026.
ELEVATION
2014–26
Track record
The operating history behind the consultancy. Roles held, not clients billed. Every one is a real company with a real trading history, so look them up. That is rather the point of listing them.
2024–26
2 YRS
Dholakia Tobacco
Head of Sales and Business Development
RUSH and PAZ nicotine pouches. UK and EU expansion across DACH, Sweden, Italy, and South Africa.
2023–24
1 YR
RoarLabs
Chief Executive Officer
Built a reduced-risk nicotine brand from the ground up. Full UK launch delivered in six months.
2022–23
1 YR
Flonq
Head of Sales UK
UK market entry for e-cigarettes from zero. Retail and distribution coverage built within twelve months.
2020–22
2 YRS
V&YOU
Head of Sales and Marketing
£1M+ annual revenue. National UK distribution secured through Unitas.
2014–20
6 YRS
EOS Leisure
Founder and CCO
One of the UK's leading vaping and CBD companies. £1,500 start-up to £5M+ turnover. £4M raised. Successful exit in 2019.
- Years in NGP & FMCG
- 13+
- International markets operated in
- 6
- Revenue built from scratch
- £5M+
- Successful founder exit
- 1
ENG
Terms
How engagements are priced
Numbers depend on the brief, but the shape never changes: you see the price in writing before anything is committed, and nothing bills by the hour.
ENG-01
Scoped project
Fixed price, agreed in writing before work starts
A defined piece of work with a defined end: a market entry plan, a distributor search, a pricing review. You see the price and the deliverable before you commit to either.
ENG-02
Interim leadership
Monthly retainer against an agreed day commitment
Running the commercial function while you hire, or while the business is too early to justify a permanent director. Reviewed quarterly, and built to make itself redundant.
ENG-03
Advisory
Short and fixed-fee
A second pair of eyes on a deal, a distributor negotiation or a market you are weighing up. Days rather than months, priced as such.
FAQ
Asked first
Questions we get asked
Who actually does the work?
Rob Harvey. There is no account manager and no junior team. The person who scopes the work is the person who does it, which is the main reason the client list is short.
How do engagements usually start?
A conversation, then a written scope with a fixed price before anything is committed. Most start as a defined piece of work (a market entry plan, a pricing review), and some continue as an ongoing interim role.
Do you work outside nicotine and FMCG?
Sometimes, but the deep experience is in nicotine, reduced-risk and adjacent FMCG. If a brief sits outside that, we will say so rather than learn on your budget.
Is this related to the software side of the business?
They are separate lines of work with the same operator behind them. Occasionally they meet: a client needs an internal tool the market does not sell. When that happens we can build it. Neither is a route into selling the other.
End of bay
Tell us what the commercial problem actually is.
Most engagements start with a business that knows its numbers are not where they should be but cannot yet name the reason. That is the conversation we are good at. You leave it with a written scope and a fixed price, whether or not you go ahead with us.
NO FEE FOR THE FIRST CONVERSATION