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Private Label now accounts for more than half of UK Grocery volumes, according to The Grocer, marking a structural inflection point in the UK FMCG landscape. This is not a cyclical response to inflation. It reflects a permanent re-architecture of category value, where retailers are no longer just competing with branded manufacturers, they are actively…

Why Insight Needs Commercial Capability In today’s retail world, businesses have more data than ever. But many still struggle to turn these into insights and real-world results. Knowing what is happening is not the same as acting on it. This gap is holding back growth and making it harder to protect margin. Commercial teams are…

The Food and Drink Federation is warning that food inflation could reach 9–10% by the end of the year, driven by sustained cost shocks linked to global instability. There will be a lag. It can take 7–12 months for rising input costs to fully feed through to shelf prices. That means many manufacturers are already…

Commercial training is widely invested in, yet the gap between learning and performance remains significant. In many organisations, capability programmes are well designed but fail to translate into consistent behavioural change in the day job.  Research has found that up to 84% of training is forgotten within 90 days without reinforcement, highlighting how quickly value…

Why many FMCG growth strategies fail and how to ensure yours delivers In today’s FMCG environment, most organisations are not short of ambition. Growth strategies are clearly defined, priorities are set, and expectations from boards, investors and customers continue to rise. Yet a more fundamental question often goes unchallenged: Are you truly set up to…

In today’s AI-saturated landscape, it’s easy to believe that data alone can drive every decision. Predictive models, automated insights and algorithmic targeting promise speed, efficiency and scale. But in the world of FMCG sales and marketing where nuance, context and human behaviour reign there’s a growing risk: the quiet deprioritisation of lived experience. At Sellex,…

For most leadership teams, the challenge is not recognising the need for growth. The real challenge is knowing where that growth will come from and making the right decisions early enough to capture it. Markets are becoming more complex. Channels are evolving. Customer expectations are shifting. In many sectors, particularly FMCG and other consumer goods,…

High-performing sales teams are rarely the result of chance. They are built through clear capability development, practical tools, and the confidence to apply them in real commercial situations. Targeted sales capability training helps unlock that potential. By focusing on the skills that matter most, organisations can strengthen performance, build confidence across their teams, and deliver…

In an increasingly challenging retail environment, FMCG companies are finding it harder than ever to deliver top line sales growth. Market consolidation, the growth of e-commerce, the inexorable impact of the discounters and smaller brands taking share from the larger more established brands, are all having an impact on almost every company in the sector.…

If you are a commercial director you don’t need us to tell you that you are probably investing more than 20% of your revenue in trade spend. But what if we told you that you could transform that 20% cost into a driver of growth? In general, the intent with investment into trade spend is…

Objection handling often gets a bad rap. It’s seen as the uncomfortable part of sales training – memorising scripts and practising rebuttals. But here’s what we’ve learned working with commercial teams for over two decades: When it’s done properly, objection handling isn’t a defensive skill.It’s one of the most powerful strategic tools your organisation has.…

Anthony Carr, Managing Director at Sellex, shares insights on “quiet cracking,” a new workplace trend. “Quiet cracking” is the latest workplace phenomenon making headlines – and it’s costing UK businesses £438 billion in lost productivity. But here’s what caught my attention: this isn’t about employees who’ve given up. These are people who WANT to perform…