Anna Cassell-Ward – Chief Financial Officer
Anna qualified as an accountant at KPMG before moving to Walgreens Boots Alliance, where she has spent the last 12 years in diverse roles across various parts of the organisation, encompassing retail, digital, opticians, and international brands. As well as roles in finance, Anna has worked in both commercial and transformation in recent years as the Boots business navigated the pandemic.
In her previous role, Anna was the Finance Director at Boots Opticians, helping to steer the business through its pandemic recovery and subsequent growth trajectory. Anna is passionate about people leadership and development and creating an environment where people can thrive and be at their best.
Anna lives in Leicestershire with her husband and two football-mad boys alongside a tankful of prolifically multiplying fish. Before accidentally becoming an accountant, she studied languages and European law.
Lisa Poyser – Director of Business Development
Lisa joined Linnaeus in 2023, having spent four years at Amazon building the Real Estate and Store Development programme for Worldwide Amazon Stores Grocery. This team was responsible for launching the first Just Walk Out tech-enabled store anywhere in the world outside North America. Lisa is a deep-rooted Development Specialist with 15+ years of experience focused on pipeline acquisition and build for large commercial organisations including Sainsbury’s and Aldi.
Lisa will add a huge amount of value to our business as we shift away from focusing on acquisitions and focus more to the future growth our business into new sites (de novo). When not in work Lisa can either be found on the side of a rugby pitch supporting one of her three sons or in a muddy field with her husband and her dogs Luna and George!
Amanda Jones – Chief Operating Officer
Amanda is a seasoned operator and has experience in business turnaround, transformation & growth situations. She was trained as an experienced operator in Marks & Spencer and Waitrose and held senior operations roles in the Post Office, Wilko, Conviviality, and Nisa.
Amanda brings a very people-centric, empathetic, resilient and holistic management approach. She is excited to join Linnaeus and is attracted to our purpose, values and culture as well as our strong growth potential. As an avid pet owner with her Brittany dogs Evie and Sasha, she feels very drawn to our purpose of creating a Better World for Pets.
David Walker – Chief Medical Officer
David is an RCVS, American and European specialist in small animal internal medicine and joined Linnaeus as part of the acquisition of Anderson Moores, where he was Hospital Director.
Prior to that time, David had worked in primary care practice and as a clinician in both academia and private referral practice. In 2022, David took on a broader leadership role as Managing Director Referrals for the South and over the past 18 months he has worked with 11 of our 17 referral hospitals.
David brings impressive clinical and leadership credentials and we look forward to him helping to deliver our business strategy. This includes driving the vision of medical quality for the benefit of our Associates, pets, and clients - recognising quality veterinary medicine is the key enabler of the delivery of Linnaeus’ strategy.
Simeon Bird – Chief Marketing Officer
Simeon is a board-level marketing executive with over 25 years of UK and international experience driving growth for major brands across a range of sectors. Starting his career in classical full-mix marketing as a brand manager at Cadbury’s in Argentina, Simeon moved to Hasbro in the UK, followed by Twinings.
Joining us from BT Group he led the team responsible for brand strategy, digital marketing, demand generation and channel comms for the Business division. Prior to this Simeon was responsible for EE’s £550m broadband and TV business unit, transforming an underperforming operation from loss to profit by focusing on customers.
During his time away from work, Simeon is a trustee for the UK's largest girls' football club, Berkhamsted Raiders, where his daughter plays centre-back for the under-14s.
Jo Price – Director of Legal
Jo is a highly experienced lawyer, with a strong background in corporate and commercial law across various industries.
Beginning her illustrious career as a corporate lawyer, Jo specialised in high-value M&A projects for PLCs and large unlisted companies. In 2007, she made the transition to an in-house role, becoming Aston Villa Football Club's first in-house lawyer, where she spent a decade contributing to the success of the club. Following her tenure at Aston Villa, Jo joined Bright Horizons, a prominent childcare group, as Director of Legal. Her most recent role, prior to joining Linnaeus, was as Head of Legal at Sport England.
Jo lives in Solihull with her husband and sports enthusiast son. When not immersed in legal matters or cheering on the sidelines, she enjoys walking, reading and cooking.