David Brown, Managing Director, FQC Solutions Ltd
David is Managing Director of FQC Solutions, a consultancy that specialises in food quality compliance and risk management. David started FQC Solutions over 6 years ago and before that he spent over 18 years with Diageo plc. and has vast experience in implementing both risk management and quality improvement across Africa, Latam, Caribbean and USA as well as Europe. His last 6 years in Diageo were spent in the Far East working in countries like China, India, Korea, Australia, heading up technical and risk management implementation. Having helped develop a set of global risk management standards, as a lead auditor he has ensured improvement and compliance to these standards to beyond 97%. He is a Fellow of the IFST and through FQC Solutions works closely with both FMCG and SMEs to help them meet their requirements from basic food safety and HACCP to integrated management systems like FSSC 22000.
Andy Buchan, Managing Director, ACO Building Drainage UK
Having worked in ‘drainage’ for over 25 years Andy has a wealth of experience across a number of different material options including clay, plastics and concrete. Predominantly associated with manufacturing companies (Hepworth and Saint-Gobain) prior to ACO, Andy specialised in the development of new products.
At ACO Andy is responsible for the UK business manufacturing & supplying hygienic drainage systems to a variety of business sectors including the Food Processing and Commercial Kitchen markets. Andy continues to work with the research and development functions within the business and is actively involved with the future development of product and solutions alongside leading academic and research institutions.
Over his career Andy has worked in the UK and overseas in the USA & Europe and has covered both manufacturing and distribution focusing on a variety of sectors within the construction industry.
Gary Featherstone, Engineering Systems Manager, Holchem
Gary is an electrical and electronics engineer whose work has focussed on engineering solutions within the chemical/food industry for the past 28 years, having worked for Holchem for the last 20 years. Gary has specific internal duties as a part of the MAH team, helping with compliance to the legislation that the Holchem production facility works under with regard to COMAH and Environmental controls. He is passionate about engineering safety and best practice designs to ensure that all Holchem engineering products and services are fit for purpose, from a Chemical compatibility, Safety and Hygienic perspective.
Urszula Gawrylak, Environmental Hygiene Controller, Kanes Foods Ltd.
Part of the Technical team for Kanes Foods and one of the company specialists, with specific responsibility to control factory environmental hygiene. Kanes Foods consists of four factories within one site, which produce a range of washed and ready to eat salads, prepared vegetables and stir fry vegetable mixes, as well as fresh salad dressings, mayonnaise and stir fry sauces. Kanes Foods also grow beansprouts and manufacture fresh egg noodles. Key responsibilities include defining company hygiene standards, implementing continuous improvement, reducing cross contamination risk and applying procedures to prevent hazards entering the processing facility, advising on factory layout and equipment design, training and knowledge transfer and auditing of hygiene standards across the site. Also, a representative at relevant external working groups including the European Hygienic Engineering Design Group (EHEDG).
Kanes Foods Ltd is a leading food manufacturer of prepared leafy salads, salad dressings, prepared vegetables, stir fry, dressed salads, salad bar and stir fry sauces. Due the short shelf-life of products, hygienic design is at the forefront of strategic planning. This presentation outlines the retrospective changes made to existing factory process equipment and discusses how these changes have optimized overall production efficiency and improved food safety and shelf life. The processes involved in achieving optimized efficiency are detailed alongside learning outcomes.
Graduated from Lublin Agriculture University in Poland in 2004, with a MSc in Food Technology and Human Nutrition. Worked as a Hygiene Specialist in the Food Manufacturing Technologies Department at Campden BRI, where main research interests were hygienic design of factory equipment and factory layout, as well as being involved in implementation of the Prerequisites Management Programme based on risk assessment.
John Holah, Technical Director, Holchem
John is an applied microbiologist whose work has focussed on the prevention of microbial, chemical and foreign body contamination of food during its manufacture, distribution and retail. John has specific expertise in food hazard management, the hygienic design of food factories and food processing equipment; factory services and water systems; maintenance; cleaning and disinfection; personnel hygiene and environmental sampling. Prior to joining Holchem, John was Head of Food Hygiene at Camden BRI for over 20 years. He is passionate about food safety and demands that all Holchem products and services are fit for purpose so that they can become part of an effective and integrated hygiene management system.
The Technical Director is responsible for coordinating the development of innovative cleaning and disinfection chemicals and technologies and their successful utilisation in effectively designed, engineered, validated, managed and maintained sanitation programmes so as to meet customer’s cleaning objectives. Such objectives include the control of microbial, allergenic, chemical and physical hazards, the control of brand protection issues including meat speciation, ensuring the production of high quality food products by preventing the transfer of organoleptic components between food products in the factory or kitchen and maintaining the cleanliness of building fabric, fixtures and fittings.
Key to this is the maintenance of the Technical Division’s skill base to offer thorough training of cleaning operators, supervisors and managers, the servicing of customers hygiene systems and equipment, and the ability to support customers through their technical issues.
Peter Jones, Fresh Pair of Eyes Ltd
A food technical management professional with excellent and extensive 30 + years’ experience across UK blue chip manufacturing and retailer sectors.
An enthusiastic and proactive professional experience at implementing risk based pragmatic approaches to food manufacturing and retailer technical requirements. Comfortable on the factory floor or boardroom helping contribute to your business/ brand security and development.
Steve Langford, Global Market Manager Food & Beverage, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies
Steve Langford qualified in Clinical Biochemistry at Manchester University and followed this with Postgraduate qualifications in Management Studies.
After working for a number of years in Liquid Process Filtration, he joined the Freudenberg Group in 1993 as Applications Engineer to the Filtration Division. From 1998 he was Sales Manager for Industrial Air Filtration, becoming General Manager for the UK in 2001. In 2007 he took over as Managing Director, Freudenberg Filtration UK, following the acquisition of FEL (a company offering filtration related service and maintenance contracts to the Food & Beverage Industry). He was also actively involved in the acquisition of Aquabio Limited, in 2012), (a company offering water reuse and wastewater treatment to the Food & Beverage Industry).
He took on the role of Global Market Manager, Food and Beverage for Freudenberg Filtration Technologies in January 2015, retaining a Directorship in both Freudenberg Filtration Technologies UK Limited and Aquabio Limited. Since the start of the year Steve has spent time both in Europe and in China promoting the benefits of Hygienic Air Quality Systems.
Eric Partington, Chair, UK: IE European Hygienic Engineering Design Group (EHEDG)
Eric Partington is a Metallurgist with some 40 years' experience of the United Kingdom food and drinks industries. Twenty of those were spent with a major UK Brewing Company, specifying and purchasing stainless steel equipment. He is a European Consultant to the Nickel Institute of Toronto, specialising in the applications of stainless steels in the Food and Beverage industries throughout Europe. He has lectured and published extensively in the UK, the USA, Europe and Asia on Hygienic Design, on the uses of metallic materials of construction for food-processing equipment and on EU food safety legislation.
Eric chairs the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group’s Working Party responsible for Technical Guideline No. 32: Materials of Construction for Equipment in Contact with Food and is Chairman of EHEDG's UK Regional Section serving the UK and Ireland.
Peter Sampson, FIFST, Hon Secretary IFST Western Branch
Peter is a Fellow if the IFST and has been a member since his student days in the 70s studying Food Science at Strathclyde. He has played an active role in the IFST by speaking at IFST conferences and lately as Hon Secretary of the Western Branch. He had worked in Technical positions for over 30 years in the UK food industry including Canning, Bakery and Desserts.
His final role involved the setting up (design, build, equipment purchase, process trials and quality systems) of a high risk factory which produced individual restaurant quality retail desserts in glass and ceramics. After this he moved to his own consultancy. This included 8 years as a Tesco PIU auditor in Europe and he is now specialising in auditing to the BRC and SALSA standards.
Debra Smith - Global Hygiene Specialist, Vikan
Debra has over 30 years of food safety/research training and experience. Prior to joining Vikan Deb worked in the microbiology laboratory of Bernard Matthews Farms, a large poultry farmer and processor (3 years), the Food Safety Division of the UKs Dept. of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as a Research Manager (DEFRA, 16 years), and as Food Hygiene Research Manager at Campden BRI (9 years). She holds qualifications in Applied Microbiology (HNC), Nutrition & Food Science (BSc (Hons)), and Advanced Food Hygiene and HACCP. She is author/co-author of numerous food safety/hygiene publications, including peer reviewed papers, book chapters and a number of food industry hygiene guidelines. She has also presented her research at many National and International food safety events.
At Vikan Deb is responsible for providing expert hygiene advice and support to the food industry and for the development of new and improved cleaning tools. She is also available to conduct hygiene site visits and Workshops, and provide bespoke hygiene training and advice.7