Driven by purpose
I started HC Brands after running my own food brand and feeling underwhelmed by the lack of businesses run by industry operators offering solutions at each stage of a brand's growth lifecycle.
I set out to solve this, and now we partner with brands as they scale, typically from brand ideation and creation, up to £10m in annual revenue.
Fuelled by passion
At HC Brands, we’re incredibly passionate about growing brands, working with founders, and supporting the next wave of innovation in our industry.
We’re a team of talented operators providing full-service sales and consulting solutions to fast-growing food, drink, and consumer goods businesses.
GROWTH ACCELERATOR & PORTFOLIO SALES
We are the appointed sales and B2B channel partners for some of the fastest-growing brands in the United Kingdom. We help our partners grow through our extensive buying network across retail, wholesale, and foodservice channels.
Our sales partners sit within highly curated portfolios, organised by channel and portfolio suitability. Current brands include:
CONSULTING
Our consulting projects are tailored solutions designed to give our clients the tools and insights to scale their businesses. In the rapidly evolving world of consumerism, there is no set playbook for success. This makes the journey both exciting and challenging, but it also highlights the need for bespoke solutions tailored to each client.
We’ve advised over 40 businesses and bring live, current insights from building our own portfolio in the industry, all of which gives our team the growth acceleration needed to unlock scale.
BRAND BUILDING
We recognise that consumer brands aren’t built behind laptops; this is why we partner with our portfolio brands to bring their products to life in the trade and support them across the following areas:
RETAIL FIELD SALES
SAMPLING ACTIVATIONS
HARRY CLARKE
FOUNDER
An accomplished entrepreneur in the food and drink sector with 15 years’ experience working across FMCG and hospitality. Harry leads the team to ensure that we are delivering growth across all areas of our business for our clients.
- Harry Clarke
JOHN RUSSELL
FOODSERVICE LEAD
John joined HC Brands in June and brings a wealth of experience in the beverage category with previous experience working at Diageo and more recently leading the foodservice and wholesale business at Punchy Drinks. John is responsible for growing our foodservice business and managing our clients within this portfolio.
- John Russell
LILI WIRANATHA
BRAND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER - RETAIL
Lili has 5-years prior experience working with challenger brands both abroad and in the UK Over the last two years Lili has worked closely with our clients growing them in the premium retail channel.
- Lili Wiranatha
ZEB DE SALES
BRAND DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE - FOODSERVICE
Zeb joined HC Brands in September 2024 and has been instrumental in building our clients into the foodservice channel. Zeb’s role includes growing end users’ customers aligned with each client’s customers strategy.
- Zeb De Sales
JORDAN PALMER
COMMERCIAL ADVISOR
Jordan has spent the last 8 years in the drinks industry, working both as a founder and in senior commercial and consulting roles. Jordan supports our consulting clients across business strategy and commercial projects.
- Jordan Palmer
PANDA LA TERRIERE
BRAND ACTIVATIONS
Panda is responsible for promoting and building distribution by running activations and field sales campaigns. Panda understands what it takes to grow brands in the independent sector and to build strong relationships with our trade accounts.
HERE IS WHAT OUR PREVIOUS CLIENTS SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH US
"Within a couple of weeks, HC Brands was able to open up relationships with key buyers and secure listings, something that typically took us 6 months. Their strategic input has made a massive impact to our business over the past 2 years."
Avnish Babla
"HC Brands' knowledge and experience has been invaluable, bringing tangible results in just a few weeks of working with us."
Tom Walker
"HC Brands' advice proved invaluable during the set-up process and post-launch as we worked towards our first national supermarket listing."
Nathan Clemes
"Having been founders before, HC Brands' approach is not only detailed and focused from a sales perspective, but empathetic and overarching – they kicked started our product launch with a perfect mix of ambition and realism. I would call all the team for advice for things beyond sales."
Lisa Macfarlane
"Working with Harry and HC Brands was an absolute pleasure. His depth of knowledge and expertise in the F&B sector were evident from the start, but what truly set him apart was his patience and collaborative approach. He has a great grasp on the numbers, a keen understanding of promotions, and deep insight into retailers and their mindset. No matter how complex the challenge, he always took the time to explain solutions clearly, ensuring everyone was on the same page. His professionalism, reliability, and positive attitude made every project smoother and more enjoyable. I can confidently say that any team would be incredibly lucky to have him. He not only delivers outstanding results but also elevates those around him and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again!"
Wilf Marriott
"We absolutely love working with Harry and the team at HC Brands – they’ve been instrumental in the success of Ninju. From helping us to recognise category opportunity, re-defining our product and brand strategy, and taking a pragmatic and clear approach to commercial viability and forecasting across grocery and out of home, the support we’ve received is fantastic. As a founder himself, Harry truly understands the challenges we face as a startup – he’s been in our shoes, walked the walk, and this sets him apart from so many other ‘consultants’ across the FMCG space."
David Blackman
"The HC Brands team has helped to bring clarity to us as first time founders. They support without judgement and have a wealth of experience. We are not a conventional food and drink brand, however they see the bigger picture and aren’t afraid to pull up their sleeves and get stuck in, whether that is with the small stuff or the huge and complex challenges we face as a start up."
Sophie Painter
"I thoroughly recommend working with Harry Clarke and his team! Harry "plugged-in" to our team seamlessly, so we were able to hit the ground running from the first day of working together. As a small brand owner with a tight budget I was initially hesitant about investing in consulting support; however the ROI of working with HC Brands has been more than clear, and they have made a wholly positive impact on the business. Plus, on a personal level they are a pleasure to work with. Working with HC Brands has changed my opinion of fractional teams completely. So if you're reading this, don't hesitate!"
Anna Wood
"We've been working with HC Brands for over two years as our retail sales partner, and they've been a fantastic extension of the Edmunds Cocktails team. Well connected, proactive and a joy to work with - we'd highly recommend them."
Tom Mayes
