Meet our Team

Stephanie Hall founded Uptake Strategies in 2005, a strategic marketing consultancy and has built a team of expert senior industry marketers who deliver outstanding results with a growing range of healthcare clients.

As a chartered accountant and a chartered marketer and with a degree in French and Italian, Stephanie brings a unique approach to solving your business challenges.
Therapeutic experience spans the major diagnoses e.g. cardiology, respiratory, neuroscience, obesity, oncology, diabetes and ADHD.

With 25 years experience in marketing, finance and sales roles and consultancy projects in multi-national pharma companies (GSK, Eli Lilly & Co, Sanofi) and alliance partnerships.
Stephanie and her team have a 100% repeat consultancy business rate and regularly achieve the highest feedback rating levels of business impact and quality workshop outcomes. Stephanie has personally worked for months at a time in Boehringer Ingelheim UK on a variety of marketing projects.

Stephanie regularly lectures for the Chartered Institute of Marketing at Post Graduate level, is a judge on the PMEA Awards programme for the UK and Europe (including Launch Excellence) and also on the judging panel for the UK Customer Experience Awards in 2014 and Digital Experience in 2015.
Stephanie describes herself as strategic, driven, passionate about healthcare marketing and fascinated by new challenges, cultures and languages.

Maxine leads the largest and most complex projects across Uptake Strategies with her significant industry and consulting experience in commercial strategy, launch and marketing excellence, delivering outstanding client feedback. Maxine has been recognised personally by the PMEA for an award-winning marketing capability programme.

Maxine has a broad base of marketing, business and launch planning experience developed from over 20 years within the industry. She started her career at GSK on the fast-track graduate commercial programme before moving into sales, UK, EU and Global marketing roles. Maxine followed this with senior marketing roles within Sanofi. Therapeutic experience has been gained in a broad range of areas including respiratory, allergy, oncology, CNS, anti-virals, diabetes, AF, MS, IBD and BPH. Maxine has personally coached and mentored global and local Launch Leaders in pharmaceutical companies and led major Launch Excellence consulting projects.

Having worked with brands from Phase II through to patent expiry in both operational and strategic positions, Maxine brings a focused, engaging and practical style to facilitation, marketing and launch excellence, brand planning, insight and brand development and individual marketing mentoring.

Maxine describes herself as passionate, capable and organised.

Simon is a commercially-minded finance executive with experience in delivering profitable growth across a broad range of industry sectors from high technology to high street retail.

He has a track record as a finance business partner to successful leadership teams, leading and supporting technology-enabled service and cost transformation projects; sourcing and procurement programmes, and market development strategies. The role of finance as an enabler of growth and value creation and as a trusted partner to the business has shaped his career.

As Finance Director, at Uptake Strategies, his focus is on developing a world-class finance team; creating new analysis and insights into the business and the clients we serve; and supporting business development opportunities in new markets and at strategic accounts.

He studied Biochemistry (BSc Hons) at the University of Bristol, UK; has an MBA from Cranfield University, UK; and is a Chartered Management Accountant.
Simon describes himself as results-driven, naturally curious, and people-focussed.

Belinda has a wealth of experience in project management and science education, as well as being a qualified Prince2 project management practitioner.

With 14 years’ experience delivering complex operational projects in the form of a suite of conferences at the Association for Science Education, along with work on highly confidential school pupil testing projects, Belinda manages multiple projects with a wide range of clients to ensure they are delivered at the highest level of client service.

Having started out her career as a teacher of biology and general science in London, then Southern Africa, she returned to the UK to work in educational consultancy where she managed a number of contract-based projects, including the recruitment of science teachers.

Belinda has extensive people and project team management expertise at a high level and is skilled at leading flexible and disparate teams and overseeing the work of project leaders working to her, bringing exercises in on time, to quality and on budget.

Belinda has a driving passion about delivering against project milestones whilst maintaining the highest of quality and being open and flexible to changing priorities.

Belinda describes herself as diplomatic, open-minded and supportive.

Kelly has a background in Health Promotion and Behavioural Sciences and eight years experience working as a trainer in major multinational companies such as Bayer, BASF and Sony.

Kelly has a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion and Behavioural Sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Centerat Houston located in the Texas Medical Center-the largest medical centre in the world. Her focus on healthcare behavioural change and healthy behaviour uptake, particularly related to disease management and prevention adds a unique dimension to her training. As part of her degree programme, she worked on behavioural interventions in major hospitals and gained an understanding of multiple disease therapy areas.

Kelly worked as a qualified school teacher for two years before beginning a career in adult education. She spent eight years working as a trainer in major multinational companies such as Bayer, BASF and Sony in the United States and Germany and speaks fluent German. Kelly has designed and delivered training programmes and webinars with excellent client feedback.

Kelly has worked on a variety of training and consulting projects for Uptake Strategies, including brand planning workshops, a major EU Pharma launch, and a US competitor strategy project.
Kelly’s style of facilitation has been described by clients as: engaging, motivational and supportive.

Elizabeth is a skilled Project Manager who manages multiple projects for both local and global healthcare companies.

Elizabeth has a degree in Social Communications and Digital Marketing from Universidad Monteavila located in Caracas, Venezuela. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

In her previous roles she has worked as a TV Producer and a Business Assistant Manager. These experiences gave her the opportunity to develop a strong eye for detail, a unique and creative style and the confidence to deliver the best results working under pressure.

Along with her practical experience in business management, Elizabeth brings an exceptional array of skills and abilities that she will use to support the planning and execution of multiple local and global projects.

Elizabeth describes herself as creative, efficient and passionate.

Sophie has a varied background in Finance and Administration with a keen interest in Biological Sciences and Healthcare.
Sophie has a degree in Animal Science from The University of Reading where she was able to focus her studies on health subjects, choosing modules such as Neurobiology, Immunology and Endocrinology.

In her previous roles she has worked for a large construction company in the finance team, taking responsibility for a wide range of finance functions including reporting, sales, payables and VAT.

Sophie has also run her own business in children’s entertainment and was an Ofsted registered childminder. She brings to Uptake her flexibility and ability to organise and plan ahead, keeping the office functions running smoothly.
Sophie describes herself as inquisitive, supportive and focused.

Lauren manages a wide-range of projects for both local and global healthcare companies with a high level of agility to adapt and understand the needs of her clients.

With a degree in Fashion Communication and Promotion from the University of Huddersfield, Lauren developed strong research skills and a creative flair. Lauren is further pursuing her interest in marketing by studying towards a CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing.

She is skilled at organising complex projects and has a thirst for continuous improvement in aiding her clients with end to end support. Her extensive experience in customer facing and retail management positions established her skills in sales, business and people development. She also has a passion for health and is a certified nutrition coach.

Lauren describes herself as innovative, driven and enthusiastic.

Lauren has a BA(Hons) in Business Management and an MSc in Marketing Innovation from the University of Winchester, UK.

Lauren’s academic experience has allowed her to amass a strong knowledge of business and marketing processes, in addition to developing the ability to work under pressure. During her time at Winchester, Lauren worked closely with various small organisations to improve their marketing strategies and branding.

In her previous roles, she worked as a Retail Supervisor and a Sales & Administration Assistant, where she developed skills in sales, customer service and communications.

Lauren describes herself as creative, inquisitive and driven.

Connor has a degree in Contemporary Media Practice from the University of Westminster where he has developed interdisciplinary skills within interactive media, social media, photography, and moving image. Connor thrives using his aesthetic proficiency and attention to detail in all that he does.

In his previous roles, Connor has gained experience within the retail industry and believes that delivering excellent customer service is the heart of success within any business. Retail has provided Connor with communication, sales, and customer liaison skills.

He also possesses avidity for colour, composition, and everything graphic design in order to deliver innovative branding to bring to market. Connor joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing Trainee on a graduate programme in 2019 and is now working as a Senior Digital Marketing & Design Executive managing internal marketing operations, planning, and multi-media content creation for Uptake Strategies across multiple platforms.

Connor also leads on creative and digital design and branding strategy, working across a plethora of key client accounts to ensure all projects are delivered to stakeholders and global teams with the highest possible standard, using the power of cutting-edge design to ensure information can be digested, through the medium of interactive presentations and digital playbooks.
Connor describes himself as contemporary, ambitious, and a visionary.

Charlotte has an HND IS Business Studies from Bournemouth University.

In a previous role she has worked as a Clinical Trials Administrator for a large pharmaceutical company. She has enjoyed working directly with people throughout her working life, which includes running a day centre for the elderly and operating a tour bus company.

Charlotte brings her adaptability and enthusiasm to Uptake, ensuring support to the whole team.

She describes herself as a people person, organised and friendly.

Waqar has recently completed an MSc in Project Management at Coventry University.

Before achieving a distinction in his Master’s in Project Management, Waqar gained a First Class Honours Degree in Business Management.

As part of his Masters Waqar, undertook an internship at Coventry City Council looking into how customer services can be improved in the Regulatory Services department. Much of his time involved conducting and analysing primary qualitative research with employees; after reviewing the analysis he was responsible for making conclusive recommendations to improve customer services.

Waqar thrives when working in teams and enjoys working towards a goal. He also engages in charity work and social events which allow him to appreciate and understand a variety of cultures.

Waqar has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant on a two-year scheme, focusing on designing and managing projects for clients.

Waqar describes himself as focused, reliable and open.

Jonathan is a seasoned Senior Client Relationship Manager and Account Manager who has worked with a wide variety of clients across multiple industry sectors providing valued insight and client focus on all accounts he has worked on.

Jonathan has been providing support across all functions of Uptake Strategies, focusing on employee engagement, new project tracking and strategic account management. His client focus and strong organisational skills mean he has been able to effectively deliver on a wide variety of projects.

Previously, Jonathan has worked at Aon Hewitt, Thomson’s Online Benefits, Great Place to Work and Korn Ferry specialising in HR Consultancy: compensation, rewards, flexible benefits and implementing organisational change through employee engagement. His clients have ranged from Pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squib and Bayer through to recruitment and retail firms like Adecco and Pets at Home. Jonathan has also worked in training management in the charity sector.

Jonathan has a BA in American Studies from Brunel University and describes himself as resourceful, client focused and creative.

Jessica has developed a strong creative style in branding and marketing after studying for her degree in Media, Communication, and Advertising at the University of Winchester. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Project Assistant, supporting client work in planning and design.

During her time at University Jessica gained industrial experience, job shadowing a marketing team within a software company. This gave her a great insight into how corporations work and inspired Jessica into the marketing industry. It is from these experiences that Jessica has adapted a strong eye for detail and design style, by working on multiple creative projects including logo designs, website creations and point of sale displays.

In her previous roles, Jessica has worked in hospitality and retail, gaining valuable customer service experience and thriving in a fast-paced work environment. These previous experiences have also allowed her to develop the ability to work well under pressure and to a tight deadline.

Jessica describes herself as innovative, reliable and passionate.

Sophie has a Master of Biochemistry in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

Before completing a three-month research internship at Uptake Strategies, Sophie attained an integrated Master’s Degree with her research dissertation focused on investigating molecular aspects of type 2 diabetes, whilst also undertaking an additional supplementary subject in Chemical Pharmacology.

Alongside her studies, Sophie acquired a variety of practical experiences within the pharmaceutical industry via internships, competitions and masterclasses. This included a student internship at the Bayer Pharma AG in Berlin, and a modelling and analytics internship at Inpharmation, an industry-leading pharmaceutical forecasting consultancy, where she researched clinical studies that involved the combination of modern oncologies.

Sophie also has experience in performing arts and hospitality, giving her excellent communication and customer-facing skills in combination with her strong scientific background. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant on a two-year fast track Graduate scheme.

Sophie describes herself as versatile, reliable and passionate.

Mollie has a First-Class BA (Hons) Degree in Marketing Management from Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant.

During her degree, Mollie has gained academic knowledge of key marketing and business processes, as well as a summer internship at Haagen-Dazs which developed her creative marketing skills.

In previous roles, Mollie has worked in retail and as a Personal Trainer, developing an awareness of the importance of a customer focus as well as interpersonal skills. Balancing this with her studies has also developed her ability to work to deadlines and manage time in fast-paced environments. She also has a keen interest in health and fitness.

Mollie describes herself as enthusiastic, reliable and innovative.

Catherine is an experienced HR & OD professional having worked for 15 years in commercial HR roles in pharmaceuticals and other industries. Previous to joining Uptake Strategies, she spent seven years at Sanofi in the commercial UK business and in European Leadership Development.

Her expertise is across the broad HR remit, in particular, talent & assessment, organisation culture and capability & performance. She is passionate about challenging clients’ thinking to create their unique people strategy and working with teams to create a high performing culture and get results. She has managed various change projects, including team integration following acquisitions, and working with leadership teams to prepare for lead change.

Her career values are depth of expertise, autonomy and a genuine desire to add value and support her client groups. She is action-oriented and hands-on with a strategic view.

Her education includes MSc Occupational Psychology from Birkbeck University of London and BSc Mathematics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Catherine describes herself as truth-seeking, calm and sincere.

Goran has joined the Uptake Strategies team as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant, after completing his Master’s degree in Strategic Marketing Management at Aston Business School, where he acquired a passion for marketing strategy, planning and branding.

During his time at University, for his internship, Goran worked for a start-up company based in London, as social media associate. Through social platforms he increased brand awareness, improved the company’s online presence, and increased sales. He was also selected to be a volunteer in the first ever Aston Business Clinic, maintaining a role as a marketing consultant for two local SMEs. His interest in business and his passion to help people from all over the world have guided him to start a career in the healthcare industry.

Previous positions in hospitality, retail and event management have helped Goran develop great customer service skills through continuous client interaction. He has also learned how to thrive in a fast-paced environment and to effectively communicate with people at all levels in business.

Goran describes himself as enthusiastic, open minded and resilient.

Alex has a First-Class BA (Hons) Degree in Accounting with Finance from the University of Portsmouth.

Whilst studying, Alex gained academic and technical knowledge in Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Finance, and Business Strategy. He also gained valuable practical experience whilst completing his placement year working as part of a finance team for a cloud-computing SME.

Alex will soon start studying for his CIMA qualification, which he hopes to complete in the next few years to become a professionally qualified accountant.

Alex describes himself as focused, resourceful, and logical.

Emily has a BA (Hons) Degree in English from the University of Nottingham, UK. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant.

During her degree, Emily gained academic knowledge of language psychology and developed her written communication and research skills. Alongside her education, Emily worked as a proofreader and an English tutor, which has developed her time management skills and improved her attention to detail, preparing her for one of her key responsibilities, that of Quality Control.

In her previous role, Emily worked as a Sales Coordinator, where she developed a customer-centric approach and worked on a variety of different projects. This has given her the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment. Emily also volunteers her time as an Editor and Health and Wellbeing Correspondent for a non-profit organisation, where she writes and edits articles.

Emily describes herself as organised, attentive, and creative.

Jamie has a First-Class MA (Hons) Degree in Business Management from the University of Aberdeen and obtained a Master’s Degree (MSc) in International Strategic Marketing from the University of Glasgow. Throughout his time at university, Jamie has developed a strong understanding of key marketing and management theories and has developed a real passion for strategic marketing.

Alongside his studies, Jamie has gained experience working as a marketing intern for Mentholatum UK, which has enhanced his knowledge of key marketing processes within the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, he took part in a project management placement, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he was responsible for managing a team in a highly pressurised environment.

Further to this, he also has experience in the hospitality and events industry, which has enabled him to develop first-class customer service skills, as well as broadening his communication and decision-making skills. These experiences have enabled him to be adaptable and flexible in new and challenging situations.

Jamie has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant on a two-year scheme.

Jamie describes himself as outgoing, determined, and versatile.

Isha has a First-Class BSc (Hons) Degree in Marketing from Aston University, UK. She has now joined the Uptake Strategies team as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant.

As part of her placement year she worked for an NGO based in Brussels. During this time she assisted on a range of projects which also included collaborating with the European Union institutions. Isha worked across different departments including Project Management, Communications, Research, and HR.

Isha has previously worked alongside various charities for different causes as well as teaching children in Gambia.

Isha describes herself as ambitious, passionate, and driven.

Jack has recently joined the Uptake Strategies team as a Graduate Digital Marketing and Design Assistant. He has a First-Class BSc (Hons) Degree in Business Management from the University of Southampton, as well as an OMCA Certificate in Digital Marketing.

During his degree, Jack acquired a passion for digital marketing, innovation and technology. Alongside this, he completed a year-long internship with TJX Europe as a Brand & Marketing Associate and gained work experience at various creative agencies across London, to develop his business acumen and creative marketing skills.

Previously, Jack has worked in customer-centric roles, developing interpersonal skills and an understanding of the importance of customer focus. His desire to help others has now guided him to start a career in the healthcare industry.

Jack describes himself as creative, ambitious, and enthusiastic.

Mikela has recently completed an MA in Strategic Fashion Marketing at the University of the Arts, London College of Fashion. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Marketing and Project Management Assistant.

Before achieving a distinction in her Master’s in Strategic Fashion Marketing, Mikela gained an Upper Second Class Honours Degree in Communications with Psychology.

During her studies, Mikela had the opportunity to realise the value of various marketing strategies, by developing innovative and holistic approaches to engaging content and overall brand identity strategies. Additionally, she explored the day-to-day impact of visuals and aesthetics, through graphic design, photography and video production.

In a previous role, Mikela worked as a Studio Administrator and Graphic Designer, where she worked on a variety of different projects and developed creative strategic thinking. Mikela also volunteers her time as a youth leader in a Maltese youth organisation, where she has coordinated several programmes and activities.

Mikela describes herself as creative, passionate, and open-minded.

Mikela has an MA in Strategic Fashion Marketing.

Rachel has a First-Class BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Leicester, UK. She has recently joined Uptake Strategies as a Graduate Project Management Assistant.

During her degree, Rachel gained an understanding of human behaviour and developed her written communication and research skills. Her dissertation focused on message framing for public engagement.

Previously Rachel has managed sites which provide wrap around childcare services. This allowed her to develop her customer service and interpersonal skills alongside planning and organisation.

Whilst at university Rachel volunteered her time as a Marketing and Public Relations Assistant for a non-profit organisation which supports young women with cancer. Through this role she gained experience in a range of areas from event planning to launching new initiatives.

Rachel describes herself as passionate, reliable and ambitious.

Alice is an experienced Account Director and accredited Digital Marketer working at global, regional, and local levels across a variety of healthcare clients and projects.

With a background in biological science and genetics, Alice has more than 10 years’ experience working in pharmaceuticals across multiple therapy areas and a range of consumer healthcare categories. Alice successfully manages multiple client accounts and projects, ensuring key milestones and deliverables are met on time and to budget in combination with strong communication and consultation. Alice is proactive and meticulous in her work and enjoys building long-term relationships and delivering quality outputs and positive outcomes for clients.

Alice is highly creative, with experience in healthcare branding, website/portal design, brand planning, and launch. Recent projects delivered include design, development, and global rollout of launch readiness tools, regional tactical planning, and global rollout of Marketing Excellence training to over 200 online participants.

Alice describes herself as versatile, creative, determined.

Melissa is highly experienced marketer. She has experience across a breadth of therapy areas across the commercial cycle, specialising in launch and growth for medicines.

Melissa leads some of Uptake Strategies largest projects on launch and marketing capability across European and Asian clients.

Melissa started her career at GSK where she held a number of marketing and sales roles. These included Head of Marketing for Vaccines UK, Head of Strategy [including Marketing and Launch Excellence] for GSK International and Head of Haematologyfor GSK Oncology International.

From GSK she went to found the European Commercial business for the Japanese Pharmaceutical company Shionogi. As VP Marketing Europe she built out the commercial teams in UK, France, Germany and Spain.

Most recently she founded and ran Accretio Limited. Accretio co-invests with Pharmaceutical companies in medicines that the Pharma company cannot focus on to ensure access to patients in the UK.

After building a portfolio of 10+ medicines Melissa successfully exited Accretio earlier this year to allow her to focus on her 3 passions: delivering growth for medicines, working with women in business and her family.

Melissa loves to work with teams to co-create solutions that will deliver sustainable growth for medicines.

Following a successful corporate career in commercial and medical leadership roles within the pharmaceutical industry, Caroline brings her energy and enthusiasm to facilitate change for individuals, teams and organisations. She takes a client-centred approach to collaboratively deliver the desired outcome through the application of authenticity and mindfulness.

Caroline has multi-functional experience encompassing sales, marketing, market access and launch. She started her career at MSD in sales and marketing before moving to Sanofi where she held several director-level positions including VP Global Marketing and Market Access. She has worked across broad therapeutic areas including CV, Thrombosis, Oncology, CNS, Urology, Diabetes, Obesity and Atrial Fibrillation. Caroline has also led transformative organisation-wide projects including medical excellence, governance, training and compliance, focused on end-user and customer requirements introducing a LEAN and AGILE capability build.

Caroline has personally coached and mentored many people at all levels to board level including volunteering for the HBA.

Having worked with brands from Phase II through to post-patent expiry in both operational, strategic and global positions, Caroline brings an energetic and engaging style to facilitation of strategic projects and coaching assignments which is also embedded in a practical and realistic approach.

Caroline describes herself as enthusiastic, curious and empathetic, demonstrating a strong desire to understand the client requirements and deliver above and beyond.

Rachel has worked in pharmaceutical and biopharm commercial roles for over 25 years. Her experience spans UK based marketing management, European and global commercial process design and many years in senior Global Commercial roles for a variety of treatments,from early development decisions to established brand marketing.

She has worked on many therapy areas including respiratory, CNS, immuno-inflammation, ophthalmology and rare diseases.

Rachel pioneered one of the first pharma industry Marketing Excellence programmes, and more recently designed and led a very successful and enduring medicine strategy development process, aligning Commercial, Market Access and R&D for pipeline medicines. This involved her facilitating cross-functional and cross-regional workshops across all disease areas and ensuring a close link to investment decisions, launch excellence and brand planning processes and capability.

Rachel is skilled at insight generation, business opportunity evaluation, honing a differentiated value proposition and developing competitive lifecycle strategies to maximise the value of the brand. She also has excellent insight into the links between R&D planning and successful brand plans, together with extensive experience partnering with market access and health outcomes experts on payer value proposition, evidence plans, pricing and reimbursement strategy.

Her style is to engage, challenge and support in order to capture insights from across the team and together craft an optimised strategy and plan.

With over 20 years' experience in pharmaceutical sales, marketing and medical roles, Jane's expertise ranges from hands-on product launches to creating commercialisation strategies for early-and late-phase products.

She is skilled in opportunity assessment for business development projects, defining target market, developing value propositions and identifying key messages for customer groups.

Previous global and local roles have involved defining the global market, leading cross-functional teams and presenting at decision level boards at a senior level. In addition, she provided commercial support for business development.
Jane’s recent consulting work has included creation of an eLearning marketing training module, revision of a global new product strategy workshop and creation of a UK launch plan.

In addition she is an experienced Project Leader and has worked on developing materials and workshops for new marketing platforms, marketing excellence and multichannel marketing, and leads on Uptake’s largest, global accounts.

Jo is an international pharmaceutical commercial leader, with standout impact in terms of ability to maximize business results.

A graduate in Neuroscience from University College London, Jo has an impressive 21 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry in commercial and market access roles, spanning the full spectrum of the product life cycle.

Jo brings a wealth of Oncology launch expertise from 2 years heading up the oncology market access division at Roche UK and 3 years operating as the Business Unit Head for the Breast cancer division. This included leadership of the promotional and non- promotional cross-functional teams, accountable for the delivery of highly successful launches in neoadjuvant, adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer.

Jo has also played pivotal roles in a strategic review of a Diagnostics business and developing and implementing a new more profitable pharma organizational structure when she was accountable for UK pharma commercial operations at Roche.

More recent international work encompassed a role as Global Launch Excellence Director with a key deliverable being a strategic evaluation of GSK’s Global Launch Excellence Framework and development of a new version. This was required to meet the needs of GSK’s transition to a specialist portfolio and a new operating model, built around the principles of co-creation of Global strategy with local adoption in priority markets. Following this work, Jo was directly appointed to lead the development and execution of a programme to build Global Oncology Commercial Capabilities for the new Global Oncology Therapy Area.

Jo’s business accomplishments are numerous, resulting in her receiving top performers awards and securing places on coveted talent acceleration programs at both Roche and GSK. Achievements include leadership of the most successful breast cancer subcutaneous biologic launch worldwide, with 70% of accounts converted from intravenous, within 3 months of marketing authorisation. In addition, reversing a negative performance trajectory to +37% gross versus the previous year for a metastatic breast cancer brand. Finally developing the vision and managing execution of a RWE breast cancer program, resulting in a “do not switch” directive from NHS England to a biosimilar.

Jo describes herself as dynamic, driven, and dedicated.

Person-focused care runs like a thread through Carla’s career. Via various national and international functions within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry she worked with issues and solutions regarding Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC).  

She has managed various patient support programmes, leading the strategic evolution, implementation and operations of patient solutions in Europe. Programs designed to improve health outcomes and experiences for patients in different disease areas.

Carla’s strength is strategy development for person focused care solutions, which are based on the principles of value based healthcare (VBHC), patient experiences, as well as outcomes.
In her work she looks for a challenge, a clear vision and a combination of theory and practice. Her style of working is relationship focused and has a human approach to complex issues, without losing sight of the objective of the organisation.

Carla is experienced at working across international markets and cultures with sensitivity and understanding. She is fluent in Dutch, English and German.

Carla describes herself as decisive, proactive and collaborative.

Liz has over 28 years’ experience working in, and with, the pharma industry. She has enjoyed a highly varied career working in both local affiliate and global teams at Director level. Her experience spans senior marketing and sales roles within the industry and latterly in consulting roles with major pharma clients.

She has led marketing, sales and market research teams and has experience in a wide variety of therapy areas including migraine, respiratory and neurology.

In her consulting work, over the past 12 years, Liz has designed and delivered multiple Marketing Excellence programmes including customer insight and branding, and strategic and operational planning with client companies. She is able to draw upon her broad experience base to bring theoretical marketing concepts to life and support her clients to connect strategic decisions to the point of practical application.

Liz has worked with one major client in particular since 2012 across the UK, Europe and AMESA regions delivering brand planning, MEX and MCM workshops with consistently excellent participant feedback. Her structured approach to marketing planning, brand positioning and brand development always has the customer at the heart.

Clients describe Liz as energetic, engaging and experienced.

Georgina is highly experienced in marketing and consultancy. She has lead many major projects for Uptake Strategies and consistently delights clients with her approach, insights and quality outputs, receiving glowing testimonials time and again.

Georgina has held senior roles within Boehringer Ingelheim, Abbott and GSK and has managed a diverse range of therapy areas including respiratory, obesity, hypertension, anti-infectives, gastro and allergy. More recently, she has successfully applied her expertise in the technology sector -for Microsoft –excelling in a fast-moving, digital and highly complex marketing environment.

Georgina has a positive and engaging approach and is both confident and passionate about strategic and operational excellence. She is able to help clients succeed by combining a sound understanding of their challenges with practical, business-driven solutions.

Areas of specialist expertise include:
•Strategic planning, brand planning and operational excellence
•Launch excellence processes, launch planning and launch readiness
•Digital marketing strategy and customer journey mapping
•Opinion Leader and Advocacy Development with supporting processes, roles and tools

Georgina has a passion for excellence and delivers practical, business-driven solutions.

Mary works on projects across Uptake Strategies with her significant industry and consulting experience in commercial strategy, brand implementation, forecasting and launch excellence.

Mary has over 20 years experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry, including at Pfizer, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk. She started her career in pharmacovigilance and medical information, before moving into marketing, and leading products in both the UK and USA.

She has worked closely with senior global leadership, R&D, partner companies, directing on pipeline strategy, strategic projects, launching products and managing patent expiry. Mary has supported managers in developing and coaching team members in principles of marketing and analytics, with a collaborative flair.

Having extensive experience across commercial strategy, forecasting, new product development, launch excellence and marketed products in a broad range of therapeutic experience including oncology, cardiovascular, CNS, anti-infectives, diabetes, and ophthalmology, Mary brings a practical and solution orientated focus to projects.

Mary describes herself as insightful, organised and creative.

Vanessa is a senior marketing leader with 25 years’ experience in leading healthcare businesses in the UK and Australia. She has unique experience across the range of healthcare (pharma, OTC and FMCH). As a result, Vanessa has specific expertise in, and passion for, branding, positioning, insights, multi-channel thinking and strategy, and planning.

In her consulting work, Vanessa has lead the development and implementation of global strategic capability strategies, brand planning frameworks and capability frameworks. She also partners with brand teams to drive marketing excellence including working live with teams on their brands to diagnose critical performance drivers and barriers and develop cross-functional success plans.

Vanessa is also an accomplished facilitator designing and delivering engaging, motivational business workshops and coaching teams to develop best in class plans helping teams embed learning. Her unique experience across pharma and consumer enables her to bring to life ideas and concepts in practical imaginative ways.

Vanessa has a passion for enabling people to flourish in life, is a qualified coach, and is studying Positive Psychology.

She has an inspiring, energetic style that supports constructive challenge, creative thinking and empowers learning through practical application of concepts.

Ian is a highly experienced international pharmaceutical sales and marketing leader with a consistent track record of delivering results.

A graduate in Chemical Engineering from Birmingham University UK, Ian worked in biotechnology R&D with Astra Zeneca before completing an MBA at the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. Joining Eli Lilly in 1990, Ian has held leadership positions in marketing, new product development, market access, sales management and business unit leadership. Having worked in local affiliates in the UK, Ireland, Italy and the USA and having held marketing responsibility for Europe, Ian brings first-hand experience of pharmaceutical marketing across diverse markets. Ian has deep therapeutic experience in diabetes, neuroscience, infectious diseases and osteoporosis gained across both primary and specialist care.

As Lilly’s UK & Northern Europe Diabetes Business Unit Leader, Ian returned a declining insulin portfolio to growth and successfully launched four new brands (three in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim) across 9 countries. He achieved the Lilly President’s Award for exceeding sales and profit targets for seven consecutive years and took Lilly’s share of new patient starts in diabetes from fourth to first place over a three year period. In his role at Uptake Strategies, Ian is focussed on strategy development and launch.

Ian describes himself as thoughtful, pragmatic and results-driven.

A strategic marketer who through practical in role experience brings great credibility in designing and delivering Marketing Excellence programmes.

From 2008 to 2017 Liz was an internal consultant for Shire International Sales & Marketing Training. She is credited with not only the marketing training curriculum, but also embedding key principles of marketing excellence across the 11 countries of the international organisation. Liz has also been a key part of the brand planning process, from design, to evaluation and on going coaching.

Prior to her consultancy work at Shire, Liz worked at Bayer, latterly leading successful teams in both marketing, market research and marketing planning. Liz has worked across a diverse range of therapy areas, including haemophilia, respiratory, cardiovascular, men’s health & ADHD. Liz has also consulted for creative agencies, developing strategic and brand propositions.

Liz has a great ability to ‘cut to what is important’ and works with teams in a confident consultative style. She is both analytical and creative, and is an engaging coach in both classroom and virtual environments.

Having worked with both international and country affiliates, with senior leaders on executive panels as well as operational managers, Liz is very able to see the perspective of all stakeholders and arrive at mutually successful solutions.

Liz’s first degree was in German & Management Studies at Leeds University, followed by a further Diploma in Management Studies from Portsmouth Business School. She is also a Chartered Marketer and an accredited virtual classroom facilitator.

She is a competent German speaker and speaks conversational French.

Marc has over 25 years’ experience in biotech and pharmaceutical commercial roles, both in-country in the UK and France, and internationally in European, Emerging Markets and Global positions.

The bulk of Marc’s career has been spent at GlaxoSmithKline working in respiratory, diabetes, rare disease and thrombosis before moving onto positions in HPV vaccines at Sanofi Pasteur MSD and rare GI at Shire / Takeda. As an Anglo-French dual national now living in Switzerland, who has launched brands around the world, Marc brings a truly international perspective to tackling strategic issues.

Solving complex and challenging issues is what Marc enjoys most. He has a structured and analytical approach to problem-solving, likes to challenge the status quo and develop creative and innovative solutions. He leads teams and workshops with passion, energy and commitment, pulling on the expertise of others to drive practical solutions that can be implemented in the real world.

As well as product launches, Marc has led due diligence and divestment projects, device and pipeline asset development, strategic brand repositioning and a number of other strategic projects.

Marc describes himself as energetic, thoughtful, passionate and results orientated.

Andrew Moody has held a wide range of commercial and operational roles across the healthcare industry. He is passionate about ensuring patients receive the medications they need, and this is clear in his highly patient-centric approach to business.

A creative scientist with a degree in Biochemistry and a Marketing and Business diploma from Henley Management College, Andrew brings a very practical and innovative view on business planning and execution.

His therapeutic understanding spans the major and smaller diagnoses, e.g. oncology and rare / ultra-rare conditions, cardiology, respiratory, neuroscience, obesity, urology, and infectious disease.
Andrew has 30 years’ industry experience, ranging from sales, brand lifecycle management and market access through to Business Unit directorship, including Asia Pacific regional management, all with blue-chip pharma (GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim, Shire). His consulting experience also includes working with a digital start-up (myTomorrows) and specialist home care access expertise, where he was responsible for insight analytics of the patient / healthcare provider experience to drive better patient outcomes (Health Care at Home). He was also Chief Corporate and Marketing Officer for IDIS, a creator of managed early access programs.

Leveraging his core marketing capability, Andrew has designed and implemented several marketing excellence and brand planning programmes across regions, as well as managing change programmes required to ensure effective company uptake and implementation, in order to achieve business success through ensuring clarity of understanding and impact.

Recently working in the fast-paced, data-driven market of immuno-oncology, Andrew drew upon his brand lifecycle management skill set to guide the development of a brand planning across two major oncology brands. In addition to this, he was involved in devising and implementing a major branded medico-marketing initiative to innovatively deliver clinical data insight to KOLs, over 6 indication (Melanoma, Renal, Lung, Head, and Neck) launches within 12 months.

Andrew describes himself as a committed strategic implementor who is highly supportive of the team he works within.

Guillaume has over 23 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including at Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi. He has served in a variety of roles in sales, marketing, business excellence, and training, at local and European level.

His affinity with therapeutic areas include Respiratory, Urology, Oncology, Multiple Sclerosis, Immunology, and Rare Diseases. Moreover, Guillaume has led late-stage product portfolios, VBHC initiatives, consumer care, and business development projects.

Because of his broad interest and experience, Guillaume has had the privilege to work with many healthcare stakeholders such as KOLs, hospital & primary care professionals, nurses, patient advocacy groups, pharmacists, agencies, and co-promotion partners.

Recently, he has been in a business partner role to perform transitions to new ways of working at Sanofi Genzyme Europe, including implementations of global Marketing & Brand Planning Excellence frameworks and Field Force Excellence approaches.

Guillaume is based in The Netherlands. He describes himself as empathetic, pragmatic, and eager to deliver positive and meaningful outcomes.

Louise Collins has over 14 years of pharmaceutical experience, and significant commercial and business expertise.

Louise led the Global KAM and Marketing Excellence programmes for AstraZeneca until April 2017; this included prioritised support for Japan, China, Asia, India, Europe, Russia and the USA. She has extensive practical experience designing and rolling out KAM programmes across all major healthcare markets including training, coaching, creation of tools and competency frameworks for embedding KAM across global organisations. Prior to this, she was the Strategic Account Manager for London, one of the most complex health systems in the world.

Louise’s recent project work across a variety of pharmaceutical companies includes the development of an end to end KAM programme with the creation of a bespoke capability framework and behaviour and train the trainer programme. Smaller projects have involved the delivery of patient journey workshops, account planning guidelines and the delivery of Webex sessions on KAM principles.

Louise has a strong background in sales and marketing across a breadth of therapy areas including pain, cardiovascular, diabetes, oncology, mental health, respiratory, biologics, gastrointestinal, anaesthesia and female health.

Louise describes herself as energetic, rigorous in thinking and collaborative and has received excellent client feedback on her recent consulting projects on her ability to deliver quality, practical outputs to tight timelines.

Joanna has over 25 years of commercial experience in bio-pharmaceutical companies having led teams at local, country and global level. She brings her experience to support the development of strategic and operational plans, in collaboration with clients, which are specific and tailored to the environment.

Joanna has a degree in Medicinal Chemistry and a Masters in Psychology. This, combined with a large breadth of commercial experience globally across many therapeutic areas, brings a strong insight and analytics-based approach along with the agility to adapt and support the development of plans and people across many cultures.

She started her career working in sales and marketing in the cardiovascular (CV) area and moved to Sanofi as a Senior Product Manager for significant CV launches working in collaboration with BMS. She then moved to Novartis working across both sales and marketing in CV, Diabetes and Dermatology before moving to head up the UK Ophthalmics business unit for the successful launch of Lucentis. Following a period working in a Senior Sales Leadership role at AstraZeneca with focus on CV, Asthma and Gastroenterology she moved into a consulting role with MSI bringing her experience to a large number of projects at local and global level. On returning to Sanofi in 2011, she led the business unit responsible for CV, Multiple Sclerosis, Renal and Osteoarthritis before moving to India as the COO for the Indian Business based in Mumbai.

In 2015, she moved to Sanofi Global Headquarters in Paris to lead a newly formed Commercial Excellence function for the Pharma Business. The function expended rapidly leading to the role of Business Operations for the General Medicines and Emerging Markets Business Unit. This involved the development of processes and capability globally and across key countries in Marketing and Insights, Sales Force Excellence, Launch Readiness, Advanced Data Analytics and Resource Allocation and Business Performance tracking. A significant part of this role was to be part of the team working on Global Digital Transformation across the Sanofi Organisation.

Having a breadth of experience working across many organisations, therapeutic and commercial areas Joanna’s style is to work in partnership with clients to bring a thoughtful, detailed approach to the development of strategy and plans at all levels with focus on capability development within organisations to be able to sustain commercial excellence in the future.

Joanna describes herself as analytical, thoughtful and committed with a desire to inspire and leave a legacy in the organisations with whom we partner.

With a career spanning over 30 years within the Pharmaceutical industry Kate has held positions at a Global, Regional and UK level in Commercial, Medical and Capability functions and is a strong pharmaceutical strategic leader with a clear strategic vision for success. 

Kate has a broad range of therapy expertise including CV, Diabetes, Gastroenterology, NASH, Neurosciences, Oncology, Respiratory and Virology and is able to rapidly upskill in any disease area.  Her experience spans all phases of the product lifecycle and has included roles in leading teams through global and affiliate brand planning and product launches.

Kate is passionate about the patient and ensuring that insight drives our thinking as we develop the core strategies and plans for our brands. Kate loves working with cross-functional brand-teams to inspire the delivery of patient focussed plans and strategies. She is an accomplished facilitator with an engaging and energetic style who can be relied upon to draw on the expertise from the wider team to deliver the optimum outcomes.

Kate started her career with SmithKline Beecham before moving into a range of more senior commercial roles in GSK.  Since leaving GSK, in 2008 she has worked as a Healthcare Consultant, during this time she has consistently demonstrated an impact on the projects she has worked on and has held a number of roles including Head of Policy at the European Parkinson’s Disease Association, Global Medical Education Consultant at AZ and NASH International Commercial Launch Consultant at Intercept.

She has also held the position as Head of Global Marketing Excellence at AZ where she was tasked with building Marketing Capability across AZ with a focus on improved commercial performance of strategic and brand planning within priority markets including the US, China and Japan. She is a committed expert who draws on her experience to deliver outstanding results in each project she works and has demonstrable capabilities to work well in complex and challenging environments.
 
Kate has a strong desire to deliver outstanding performance in each and every project and describes herself as energetic, collaborative and results driven.

Rob has a wealth of marketing, sales, and commercial experience spanning 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry. He graduated from the University of Surrey with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and has subsequently held multiple senior positions in the UK and internationally for Abbvie and Celgene.

He has lead Business Units and affiliates, most recently as General Manager in the Netherlands. Rob likes to create, inspire and lead highly successful teams. He is known for heading up cross-functional launch teams in multiple therapy areas including rare disease – the launch of Humira in the UK forming the foundation for this.

Rob understands the pharma and biotech industries from top to bottom. He has a strong blend of strategic understanding coupled with effective implementation. In addition to significant launch capability, Rob has driven commercial and marketing excellence programmes across Europe, winning numerous company awards in the process.

He brings extensive experience and a deep therapy area knowledge of Rheumatology, Dermatology, and Gastroenterology. His most recent role included rare and orphan diseases in both Oncology and Haematology, including the cell therapy CAR-T.

Rob has the ability to make complex challenges simple. He does this by working to identify the true root issue that needs solving. He then works collaboratively to co-create simple, actionable solutions that accelerate performance across brands, therapy areas, and organisations. He brings with it a real energy and can-do attitude to deliver innovative results-driven outcomes for clients.

Neil Houson has over 24 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, leading brands ‘in-house’ across oncology, Hospital Specialist, Secondary and Primary Care sectors in both large blue-chip (Merck and Co, Roche and AstraZeneca) and smaller pharmaceutical companies.

Extensive oncology experience across multiple industry-leading brands and associated companion diagnostics within lung, colorectal, breast, ovarian, melanoma, and head and neck cancers.

Additional expertise in several cardiovascular and Specialist Disease areas including bleeding disorders.

Neil has significant launch leadership experience and has provided consulting support on projects including; Global Strategic Brand Planning, Competitor Readiness, and company-wide Global Marketing Framework Development.
Well versed in the UK PCMPA Code of Practice, with over 7 years as a final signatory, he also holds an Advanced Certificate from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and is experienced in Agile methodology.

Neil describes himself as strategically focussed with excellent planning and problem-solving capabilities. He is someone who enjoys a challenge both within and outside work and is passionate about helping brands to achieve their full potential.

Yvette has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry in global, and local marketing roles. She is a seasoned healthcare marketer with extensive experience across a breadth of therapy areas including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, oncology, rare diseases and neurology therapy areas. She joined the pharmaceutical industry as a Global Brand Manager and developed her career in marketing leadership roles in the UK, Ireland and more recently in the United States.

Yvette is passionate about branding, insights and executional excellence. She is deeply curious and always ready for a new challenge. Her diverse career with Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Tolmar has enabled her to develop very strong leadership, marketing, problem-solving, and strategic planning skills. She is extremely proud and honoured to work with companies and brands that have such a significant impact on patients’ lives.

Yvette has a strong ethical compass, a ‘can-do’ attitude and is driven by her team’s success.

Yvette describes herself as enthusiastic, collaborative and flexible. She believes in the power of positivity and embraces change. She is happiest when leveraging her knowledge and experience to help teams achieve their goals.

Arvind has over 20 years’ experience working in, and with, the pharma industry. He works spans Management Consulting, Strategic Planning & Strategy Development, and Commercial Operations. His experience spans Senior Commercial & Capability Building roles at the Global, Regional and Country level with major pharma clients.

Arvind’s career in the industry began with McKinsey & Co. where he worked as a Consultant for 5 years with Senior Clients in the Pharma and Medical Devices space on a variety of topics ranging from development of Therapeutic Area and Growth strategies, to market entry evaluations and post-merger integrations.

Thereafter Arvind Joined Novartis where his career of 9 years began in Basel, Switzerland, in the Corporate Strategy Group working cross-divisionally and across geographies. He was instrumental in the creation of a novel go-to-market model for smaller, fast growing emerging markets. He later joined this newly-created Region as Head of Market Access and was instrumental in securing regulatory approvals, access & reimbursement for the entire cross-divisional portfolio. Arvind then transitioned to a BU Head role leading the cross-divisional business for Novartis in Primary Care and Specialty where launched two innovative products and several generics. He transitioned to Novartis’ US affiliate in 2013 focusing on Strategy & Operations enabling strategic commercial support to all businesses and driving strategic projects across Pharma and Oncology.

Most recently Arvind worked with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, as VP and Head, Global Capability Building where he led the creation of the “Academy for Impactful Marketing”, Launch Excellence, Brand Planning, Global Insights & Analytics, Field Force Excellence and Global Congresses teams, supporting Global Franchises, Regions and Countries. His team focused on developing effective Brand and Customer Engagement strategies to drive both in-market and launch brands.

Arvind’s teams often describe him as a collaborative, empathetic and passionate leader.

Rachel has 22 years’ experience in the corporate healthcare industry, spanning pharmaceuticals, medical devices and digital health. Inspired by a background in behavioural science, Rachel has excelled in multifunctional commercial leadership roles across marketing, market access, field force excellence, training and sales.

Rachel has a proven track record of delivering outstanding results across primary and secondary care. From blockbuster products to high value speciality brands, throughout all stages of the product life cycles. In recent roles, Rachel has pioneered new strategies in portfolio management, launch excellence and digital transformation. Rachel has also driven organisational change in strategic, operational, multichannel and customer centric planning and effectiveness.
Rachel enjoys strategic challenges that require lateral thinking. She has a particular passion for innovation and positive behaviour changing ideas. A strong background in sales makes Rachel naturally patient and customer focused, offering practical solutions that deliver measurable patient outcomes and improve commercial performance.

Therapeutic experience spans the major diagnoses including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, respiratory, neuroscience, critical care, women’s health and mental health.

Rachel has an inclusive energetic style, with a passion to inspire, empower and unite people to achieve shared goals. Rachel describes herself as creative, collaborative and driven to make a difference.

Zoe Hall is Chief Welfare Officer and responsible for ensuring there is a positive and productive working atmosphere at our offices in Ascot. Her skills in listening are a great resource for the Uptake Team when needing to work through complex challenges and she is a great sound board for brainstorming new ideas.

Zoe can often be found checking on each individual member of the team throughout her day and skillfully uses her warm and empathetic attitude to encourage regular rest breaks, thus improving the team’s efficiency. With 9 years’ experience in her current role, Zoe is a valuable asset to the Uptake team!

Trixie is the third addition to the welfare support team and is working under the close supervision of Zoe Hall, Chief Welfare Officer, and Luna Whale Walker Senior Welfare Officer.

Trixie looks up to her line manager Zoe Hall who has over 9 years experience in a welfare roll, for support as she progresses into her new career as a Trainee Welfare Officer.

Luna is the second addition to the welfare support team and is working under the close supervision of Zoe Hall, Chief Welfare Officer.

Luna’s exuberant nature makes her the perfect candidate for this role, although she is currently only working in the office part-time to allow the Uptake team some peace and quiet from her playful exploits.