About Me.

About Me - The Longer Version.

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I'm Karl, based in Cambridgeshire, and I often joke that I was “educated by Tesco” at a time when most of my friends went to university. I started my career in Tesco stores, quickly becoming a shop floor manager at a young age. That’s where I learned the fundamentals: how customers really shop, what drives basket size, what encourages repeat purchase, and how brands create engagement. Being surrounded by so many products and people made me realise I loved the art of buying, selling and the simple transaction.

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That passion took me to Tesco head office, where I jumped straight into digital marketing. I learned how to connect user journeys and drive sales through touchpoints and campaigns. My creativity and sales instinct soon took me into Tesco’s retail media team, where I helped build and grow partnerships with brands like Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Häagen-Dazs and Red Bull. Linking up with dunnhumby, we combined insight with creativity - showing brands how personalised placements and data-driven targeting could strengthen investment and unlock measurable growth.

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From there, I joined the early foundations of Tesco.com Marketplace, onboarding some of the UK’s biggest brands to a new platform. That role turned out to be my last at Tesco, but it gave me everything I needed: a deep understanding of what Tesco did brilliantly - and where it struggled.

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Outside Tesco, I’d always been a hobbyist, trawling car boot sales for antiques, toys, neon signs and quirky collectibles, then flipping them on eBay. By 20, I was making more online than I was in my Tesco role. That hobby became Ralph & Co, a business I named after my newborn son. Bootstrapped with just £5,000, I built it on community, emotion-led storytelling and organic growth - no paid ads. Within three years I’d turned over £500k, and the recognition from that work opened the door to other businesses asking me for help.

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That’s how I became a consultant. Over the last decade I’ve been working with brands of all sizes to show them how customers really shop - and how to unlock growth. For me, marketing always comes down to one thing: what do you want a customer to think, feel and do? Whether it was fixing a pet supplements business stuck in transactional mode or helping FMCG brands shift to more emotional, experience-led content, I’ve built a reputation as someone who can spot the blockages quickly and reset teams around growth.

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Today, through ecomunlocked, I bring it all together: the scale and discipline of Tesco, the agility and creativity of D2C, and the fixer’s mindset I’ve honed over the years. I work with founders, SMEs and established brands who sell online and need clarity, momentum and results. I’ve seen ecommerce from every angle - retailer, founder, consultant and I know how to help businesses find their path forward and set themselves up for long-term success.

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What’s become clear throughout my career is that whenever I’ve gone into a business, people have wanted me to stay longer. Not just because of the results, but because of the way I work with people. I treat people how they want to be treated, creating environments where they feel safe to perform at their best, to ask questions, get clarity and feel trusted to get on with their work.

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I’m willing to roll my sleeves up and get involved, but I also believe in giving teams space to grow. If they fail fast, that’s fine, I’ll support them whether we’re winning or losing. When it’s work, it’s game day, and the commercials are non-negotiable. But beyond that, I encourage curiosity, creativity and the freedom to ask “why?”. I want people to enjoy the work, to feel stretched and trusted but to have a bit of fun along the way.

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I’ve learned that culture and commercials go hand in hand and if you get both right, growth follows.