Lead growth
Sales leadership, strategic accounts, pricing, forecasting, proposition development and the commercial rhythm needed to turn ambition into a number somebody can actually deliver.
Jonathan Hendry · Commercial leader · Builder
I’ve spent 15+ years on both sides of the commercial table.
From major procurement decisions to enterprise sales, pricing, margin and growth. I’ve bought, sold, negotiated, built teams, fixed commercial systems and taken new ideas into market.
BUYunderstand value
SELLcreate demand
BUILDmake it real
CARLSBERG•PERNOD RICARD•CHEP / BRAMBLES•SPORTRADAR•SYSCO / BRAKES•
•••••
About
I know what it feels like to sit on both sides of the negotiation.
I started on the buying side, managing significant spend and commercial decisions in foodservice before moving into sales, client leadership and ultimately company-wide commercial responsibility.
Most recently, as Head of Sales & Client Director at Expression for Growth, I was accountable across a £3m revenue base, leading sales performance, forecasting, pricing, margin, enterprise growth and commercial planning.
That mix matters. I don’t look at growth purely through a sales lens. I think about what the customer will actually buy, where value is being created, what makes a proposition credible, where margin disappears and what has to happen operationally to deliver it.
I also like building things myself. Sometimes that means a commercial system inside a business. Sometimes it means taking an idea, making something real and seeing whether anybody cares enough to use or pay for it.
BOUGHTSOLDNEGOTIATEDLEDBUILT
Where I add value
Useful when something commercially important needs to move.
Fix what isn’t working
Revenue stalled. Margin leaking. CRM ignored. Proposition unclear. Teams doing lots of activity without enough commercial impact. I like getting underneath the problem, simplifying it and changing what happens next.
Build something new
New proposition, new revenue stream or early-stage idea: get it in front of customers quickly, test the assumptions cheaply and look for behaviour before investing heavily in technology or infrastructure.
Selected experience
A few examples rather than a list of capabilities.
Commercial growth
Led company-wide sales performance through a flat market, delivering 10% revenue growth alongside a 1.5 percentage-point improvement in gross margin.
Enterprise relationships
Led and grew strategic relationships with multinational organisations including Carlsberg, Pernod Ricard, CHEP/Brambles and Sportradar.
Commercial operating model
Introduced clearer client-performance standards, pricing discipline and margin controls, while leading the commercial workstream of a CRM and operating-system migration.
From idea to customer
Took an AI-enabled key account management proposition from prototype through client co-development and into enterprise pilots with Carlsberg and CHEP/Brambles.
Built from scratch
Created a multi-location community platform that grew to 3,500+ users and more than 100 events, with partnerships and multiple commercial revenue streams.
Built & building
I don’t only talk about building things.
Some ideas belong inside established businesses. Others are worth building independently. These are a few things I’ve put into the world myself.
LIVE01
CV Chaos
The job hunt is a pretty miserable customer experience. CV Chaos started as a 60-second game about that experience and evolved into a free practical tool designed to help people regain some control of it.
ACTIVE02
Epic Places Co
A travel media project built around somewhere I’d genuinely want to watch or visit: first-person journeys, interesting places and experiences, filmed without turning the person behind the camera into the product.
BUILT03
MovedTo
A multi-location community platform built from scratch to 3,500+ users and 100+ events, with partnerships and multiple commercial revenue streams alongside a full-time career.
Previous venture
Contact
There are a few reasons we might have something useful to talk about.
I’m interested in senior commercial leadership, focused projects where experienced commercial judgement can unlock something, and conversations with people building businesses or opportunities worth exploring.