Meadow Foods

Why leadership matters in food manufacturing

Founded in 1992, Meadow has grown over three decades into a £550m value-added ingredients business, supplying dairy and confectionery products to some of the world's leading food manufacturers.

Operating across multiple UK sites with shift patterns of four days on, four days off in chilled factory environments, the demands on their people are considerable. Every batch matters — this is product that goes into people's mouths, from chocolate crumb for children's confectionery to cream and cultured products for household brands. With volatile commodity markets in cocoa, sugar and milk, and close relationships with over 500 farming families to maintain, Meadow's leaders must keep level heads under pressure and communicate difficult news with genuine care.

A business that lives its values

Meadow's four values — We Think Big, We Get It Done, We Support Each Other, We Do The Right Thing — aren't just words on a wall.

The entire board dedicates a full day to discussing their people's potential and growth. CEO Raj Tugnait personally tells each programme cohort they've been identified as future leaders of the business. Participants are paired with board-level mentors who maintain those relationships long after the programme ends.

The HR team have built an internal "Elevate" framework around the training, with personal development plans, strategic objectives and regular check-ins that ensure the learning translates into lasting behavioural change. As Senior HR Business Partner Sue Pringle puts it:

The reason I love working at Meadow is because they actually live their values.

Real results

Quarterdeck's programme is built around the whole person — not just workplace skills, but the self-awareness, resilience and authenticity that underpin genuine leadership. Exercises that extend into participants' home lives, cross-cohort networking, and the development of personal values all produce changes far deeper than a typical training course.

Across two cohorts, the return has been clear.

Sales relationships transformed

One sales leader arrived confident but dismissive of customers. A candid family feedback exercise proved the turning point — she returned to work actively listening to clients and investing in the relationships. In a business where customer partnerships with major food manufacturers drive long-term contracts, even one deepened relationship pays back the programme fee many times over.

Succession-ready when it mattered most

When Meadow launched a major digital transformation programme, they needed to pull skilled people into project roles — and found leaders ready to step up. Multiple graduates have since moved into higher-responsibility positions.

Recruiting externally for equivalent roles would cost £10,000 to £15,000 per hire in agency fees alone, making the per-person training investment a rounding error by comparison.

Conflict resolved before it escalates

Participants consistently report unlocking difficult conversations they had previously avoided. One team member who found a senior colleague intimidating can now approach him directly — and that colleague, himself a graduate of the programme, is described as kinder and more approachable.

Issues that once reached the board are now resolved at the right level, freeing leadership time worth far more than the cost of the entire programme.

We've seen people unlock difficult conversations, resolve conflict, and step up into bigger roles. The business committed fully — and now we're more ready for the future than we could have been without it.

— Sue Pringle, Senior HR Business Partner

When I was told I was going on the Quarterdeck course I thought, here we go again, another course. I was very sceptical. But it's changed my life, and I think forever.

— Programme participant