Meet the Team Roundup

Meet the Team: The people behind NCASS

Over the last quarter, we’ve been introducing you to some of the people who work behind the scenes at NCASS, giving you a chance to find out more about the team, what they do and the different ways their work supports our members.

Asfand Ali – Developer

We kicked things off with Asfand Ali, one of our developers, who has been working on the technology behind NCASS for more than a year. Asfand has played a key role in developing and improving the Digital Food Safety System, including introducing custom checklists, improving the user experience and helping make the system work offline. We also discovered that outside of work he’s a keen team-sports enthusiast – and a rather serious food challenge participant!

Sarah Jackson

Next, we caught up with Sarah Jackson to find out more about her role at NCASS and the work she does to support our members. From the day-to-day running of the organisation to working with members and colleagues, Sarah gave us an insight into what goes on behind the scenes and what she enjoys most about being part of the NCASS team.

Sophie Haigh – Content & Social Manager

Sophie has been part of NCASS for seven years and leads our content and social media activity, creating everything from website articles and emails to social content, training materials and member resources. She told us about her passion for making useful information accessible and engaging, why independent hospitality businesses are so rewarding to work with and her love of Instagram – as well as revealing her dream food truck name, Frappes & Focaccia.

Liam Murphy – Graphic Designer

With around 15 years of experience across agency, publishing and education, Liam brings plenty of creative expertise to the NCASS marketing team. He shared how his childhood love of making collages and experimenting with Photoshop eventually became a career, as well as talking about his favourite NCASS project – our guide to starting a pizza business. We also found out that his dream food truck would be a Britney Spears-themed burger van called Grill Me Baby One More Time.

Scott Hughes – Product Manager

Scott has been part of NCASS for four and a half years and brings eight years of product management experience, alongside five years working in the NHS. As Product Owner, Scott helps shape NCASS’s digital products, gathering requirements, designing and scoping new developments and working closely with the tech team to bring them to life. Scott shared how important it is to build flexible systems that can work for the many different ways our members operate, as well as his excitement about improving the member onboarding journey and making NCASS’s digital tools more intuitive.

Dawn Price – Accounts Assistant

Dawn has four years at NCASS behind her, alongside 30 years of experience in accountancy practice and six years with Lloyds Bank. Her role involves keeping sales and purchase records accurate and reconciled, helping provide the financial information the wider team relies on. With more than 6,250 members to account for, there’s certainly plenty to keep her busy behind the scenes.

Annie Geddes – Administration Assistant

Annie has been part of NCASS for eight years and plays an important role in preparing membership packs and training certificates before they reach our members. She told us how much she enjoys seeing the variety of businesses that make up our membership and making sure everything members receive is prepared to the standard she’d expect herself. Outside work, Annie is a Harry Potter fan, enjoys diamond art and spending time with her two cats, Buzz and Jess.

Beccy Belson – Office Administrator

Beccy has been part of the NCASS team for four and a half years, helping prepare Safety Management System packs, arrange collections and deal with parcels and returns, while also supporting the wider team. Her feature highlighted just how much practical work goes into getting member resources out of the door and keeping the office running smoothly.

Sarah Loutfi – Industry & Stakeholder Engagement Manager

Joining NCASS earlier this year, Sarah brought more than 20 years of experience working in membership and trade associations to her role. She told us what attracted her to independent hospitality, why she believes independent businesses bring creativity and innovation to the sector, and what she’s working on to raise the profile of NCASS and champion the issues that matter to members – including new webinars and our first Ambassador Scheme.

Daren Fox – IT & Technology Director

Daren has been part of NCASS for seven years and brings a background in software engineering and experience working with businesses ranging from ambitious start-ups to some of the world’s biggest companies. His role is incredibly varied, from managing his team and reviewing budgets to solving technical issues and developing the technology behind the tools members use. His feature gave us an insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep NCASS technology running.

Deb Cheshire – Finance Director

Deb joined NCASS in 2019 as Finance Manager and is now our Finance Director, bringing more than 40 years of experience in finance. Her role covers everything from member cashback and budgets to financial planning and supporting the long-term strength of NCASS. She also shared how the finance team is exploring ways to use AI responsibly to streamline processes and free up more time to support the wider organisation and its members.

Chris Allison – Developer

Chris works on the software systems behind NCASS, building interfaces, underlying systems and infrastructure while helping ensure our technology is reliable and easy for members to use. He also gave us a look at some of the work currently underway, including guided tours to help members navigate our apps more easily.

Our team

From technology and finance to administration, content, design and industry engagement, our Meet the Team series has shown just how many different roles come together behind the scenes at NCASS and all with the same focus: supporting independent hospitality businesses and helping our members get the most from their membership.