GARY BULL
Gary has a lifetime of experience in global finance, large scale global procurement, commodities and dealing with the challenges associated with developing a sustainable business model. He is Principal at GBhorizons and has extensive experience in the beverage sector in Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and South Africa, and formerly a Global Procurement executive with SABMiller, a FTSE Top 10 company with a market capitalisation over £54bn, founded in South Africa, and listed in London since 1898. SABMiller is one of the world's largest, most respected brewing companies, with operations in over 60 countries, it is a top 3 brewer in more than 30 countries, employing c70,000 people, manufacturing and marketing over 200 brands, eg Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft, Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell, Castle Lager, Miller Lite, Carling Black Label, Aguila, Cristal, Pilsener, Atlas, Snow and Tyskie. Group revenues (March 2014) were $34 billion, with EBITA of $6.45 billion.
Gary has extensive international experience in senior finance and very large scale global procurement roles in the beverage industry, focusing on supply chain risk management and governance in large global corporations, including the challenges associated with ethical and sustainable sourcing and large scale commodity hedging. As Senior Advisor at GBhorizons, Gary works with companies and individuals who face similar challenges and where his insights and knowledge add value and increase ROI.
Based in Switzerland, Gary has overseen governance, risk management, financial controls, funding and reporting, and was instrumental in the creation and implementation of an integrated global procurement function which manages $10bn of third-party spend across the entire supply chain, including brewing raw materials (barley, malt, hops, adjuncts, sugar), key packaging materials (bottles, cans, PET, cartons, crowns and labels) and indirect categories (marketing, freight, promotional materials, capex).
He has been involved in multiple projects creating procurement processes, category management strategies, sourcing partnerships, outsourced analytics (out of India) and developing a commodity hedging framework for aluminium, barley and sugar.
Previous roles include VP Business Development at SABMiller Procurement, Director of Commercial Services for SABMiller Europe, Senior Vice President of Finance for SAB in Poland, General Manager for SAB in South Africa and Projects Manager. He has specific knowledge in establishing key positions in emerging markets.
Gary was born in Zimbabwe, qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SAICA) with Coopers & Lybrand in South Africa, and has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Cape Town. He is a British national, and speaks Afrikaans, German, Polish, Czech and Hungarian, to varying levels of proficiency, alongside his native English.
