39+ Years of Combined Food Safety Experience
Choosing food safety consultants in the UK is a very different decision from choosing an ordinary supplier. You are trusting that person, or team, to understand legislation, recognise food safety risks, interpret certification standards and, quite often, help you make important decisions about your products, premises and processes. You also need to know that the advice will work in the real world, because a food safety system that looks perfect on paper is of little value if your team cannot realistically operate it.
That is the thinking behind Beacon Compliance.
We have built the business around practical food safety support for food manufacturers, producers, retailers, importers and hospitality businesses across the UK. The team combines decades of industry experience with specialist knowledge across HACCP, SALSA, BRCGS, food labelling, supplier audits, laboratory testing and wider food safety compliance.
But when you are looking at Food Safety Consultants UK, qualifications and service lists only tell you part of the story. The more important question is who is actually behind the advice.
For us, two people in particular represent the depth of technical and practical experience that Beacon has been built upon: Katie Watkins Young and Fiona Jones.
Katie Watkins Young: more than 24 years across food safety and manufacturing
Katie founded Beacon Compliance in 2018 after identifying a gap in the market for practical, client-focused technical support, particularly for smaller food businesses that did not necessarily have the specialist knowledge they needed in-house.
Her experience is unusually broad because her career has taken her through different sides of the food safety world.
She began as a Chartered Environmental Health Officer working within local authorities before moving into senior technical and quality positions in food manufacturing. She has worked as a Technical and QA Manager for leading brands including Ginsters, where she had responsibility for compliant production of products supplied to major retailers including M&S, Tesco, ASDA and Morrisons. She has also worked as a third-party auditor within the public-sector supply chain and on behalf of brands including Subway.
That background gives Katie something which is difficult to replicate through qualifications alone. She understands what food safety looks like from the perspective of the regulator, the manufacturer, the retailer and the auditor.
It also explains why Beacon's approach is so commercially aware. Katie's role today is not simply about interpreting legislation; it is about helping businesses bridge the gap between what regulations require and what a business needs to do operationally.
Katie's approach to food safety consultancy
One of Katie's recurring messages is to avoid waiting until the last minute before an audit.
Her advice is straightforward: book the audit and use the date to focus the strategy. Once there is a fixed deadline, it becomes much easier to prioritise the work that genuinely needs doing rather than continually putting compliance improvements further down the list.
That practical mindset runs through Beacon's work.
Katie has extensive knowledge of both SALSA and BRCGS, as well as broader food safety and regulatory requirements. Her qualifications include Chartered Environmental Health Officer status, a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Health, Level 4 Food Safety Management, Level 4 HACCP, ISO 22000 Lead Auditor, Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, IFST Professional Food Auditor and Mentor, and IFST Registered Food Safety Manager status.
For a client, however, the important thing is not simply the number of letters after someone's name. It is how that experience is applied when the situation is complicated.
Fiona Jones: technical expertise built in manufacturing
Fiona brings a different but equally valuable perspective to the team.
She joined Beacon Compliance in 2020 as a Technical Compliance Consultant and progressed through the business to become Technical Operations Director. Before joining Beacon, she had already spent more than 15 years working across the food industry, building experience across a wide range of manufacturing environments.
Her career began as a Technical Assistant within a large cake manufacturing business supplying retailers including Asda, Co-op, Sainsbury's and Tesco. She then moved into meat preparations and fat production as a Technical Manager, where she implemented BRCGS food safety systems. From there, her experience included Quality Manager roles in pet food manufacturing and Technical Manager positions within bakery.
What stands out about Fiona's background is the breadth of food categories she has worked across.
Her experience includes bakery, chocolate, dairy, fats and oils, meat preparations, pet food and alcohol, alongside work within manufacturing and hospitality. She has implemented and improved systems including BRCGS, SALSA and FSA requirements across those environments.
That matters because food safety cannot be separated from the product and process.
A HACCP system for a bakery is not interchangeable with one for a fish cannery. The risks, processes, controls, ingredients, environmental considerations and operational challenges can all be very different. Having consultants who have actually worked across different food sectors means the team is bringing practical context to the discussion rather than relying purely on generic templates.
Fiona's qualifications include a BSc (Hons) in Food Science and Technology from Cardiff Metropolitan University, a Highfield Level 4 Award in HACCP for Management based on Codex principles, a Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety and Hygiene, an FDQ Lead Auditor Certificate and Lead Auditor status.
Her own top tip is simple: being proactive rather than reactive is key to successful food safety management. Regular audits, continuous training and monitoring help identify potential problems before they become more significant issues.
Why having both Katie and Fiona matters
Katie and Fiona have different career histories, and that is one of the strengths of having them within the same consultancy.
Katie brings more than two decades of experience across environmental health, major food manufacturing, auditing and consultancy. Fiona brings more than 15 years of hands-on experience across multiple food manufacturing categories, including implementation and improvement of recognised food safety systems.
Together, their experience covers much more than simply preparing a business for an audit.
It covers understanding regulations, developing practical systems, working within manufacturing environments, preparing for certification, looking at processes critically and helping businesses maintain those systems as they grow.
That is important because food safety consultancy often becomes most valuable when something changes.
A new production site. A new product. A new retailer. A new supplier. A new certification requirement. A significant process change. A business that has suddenly grown much faster than expected.
The food safety system needs to evolve alongside those changes.
The Beacon team is bigger than one person
Although Katie and Fiona provide two of the strongest pillars of Beacon's technical expertise, the business has deliberately been built as a team rather than as a consultancy dependent on a single individual.
Beacon's current team includes technical, operational and compliance specialists, with more than 80 years of combined industry experience across the wider consultancy.
That distinction becomes particularly important for businesses that need ongoing support.
You are not simply purchasing a report or a one-off visit from a consultant. You may need advice again six months later when your production changes, your audit approaches, a supplier issue arises or a technical question comes up that needs a quick answer.
The aim is to have a team around the business, with the systems and knowledge to provide continuity as the client grows.
What does that look like in practice?
The best evidence of a consultancy's expertise isn't what the consultancy says about itself. It is what its clients say after they have actually had to rely on that expertise.
That is why the experiences of businesses such as House of Britannia, Yep Kitchen and Sea Sisters are particularly useful examples.
These are not three businesses with the same problem. They demonstrate three very different reasons a food business might need external technical expertise.
House of Britannia: BRCGS Agents & Brokers
House of Britannia is a lean importer and distributor that needed specialist technical support before its first BRCGS Agents & Brokers audit.
Without an in-house technical specialist, the company needed help establishing compliant processes, strengthening its food safety systems and preparing for certification. Beacon supported the business through that process, and House of Britannia went on to achieve an A Grade at its first BRCGS Agents & Brokers audit.
Joe, Head of Commercial at House of Britannia, described the value of Beacon as more than simply getting through the audit. He highlighted the robust processes that were developed and the reassurance of having access to technical expertise that the business did not have internally.
His description of Beacon as feeling like “an extra member of the team” says a lot about the type of relationship we want to build with clients.
Yep Kitchen: turning SALSA into a manageable process
Yep Kitchen's challenge was different.
Founder Tom had secured opportunities with retailers including Ocado and Whole Foods, alongside export opportunities, but those opportunities required SALSA certification. The business already had an EHO relationship and a good FSA rating, but the SALSA process felt overwhelming, particularly while moving into a new production facility.
Beacon supported Yep Kitchen through the certification process, including documentation, training, factory floor plans and audit preparation.
Tom's feedback is particularly telling because he talks about the experience of working with the team rather than just the end result. He describes Beacon as making the process smooth, guiding him through each stage and tailoring the support to the business. He also describes the team as people he genuinely enjoyed working with and says he would recommend them highly.
For me, this is an important part of food safety consultancy. Technical competence matters enormously, but so does the ability to take something complicated and make it feel manageable to the person running the business.
Sea Sisters: supporting a business as it grows
Sea Sisters provides another useful example because its relationship with Beacon wasn't simply about preparing for one certification audit.
The Dorset fish cannery needed ongoing support to develop, implement and maintain food safety processes as the business grew. As operations expanded and audit requirements increased, the documentation and compliance side of the business became more demanding, and Beacon supported the company through multiple audits while continuing to help evolve its systems.
The support also included administrative help with documentation and paperwork, which allowed the Sea Sisters team to concentrate more closely on running the business itself.
Angus from Sea Sisters specifically praised Beacon's accessibility, saying that when they needed help, the team was there to pick up the phone and guide them through it. He also gave a personal thank-you to Katie.
That is a very different requirement from a one-off audit preparation project, and it demonstrates why food safety consultancy should be viewed as an ongoing business relationship when the circumstances call for it.
Different businesses need different types of expertise
One thing these three examples have in common is that none of them needed exactly the same service.
House of Britannia needed support as an importer and distributor preparing for BRCGS Agents & Brokers certification. Yep Kitchen needed help translating SALSA requirements into practical systems while expanding into a new production facility. Sea Sisters needed ongoing support as its manufacturing operation developed and went through multiple audits.
That is why we don't believe food safety consultancy should begin with a pre-written package.
It should begin with understanding the business.
What are you producing? How are you producing it? Where are the risks? What certification or customer requirements apply? What systems do you already have? What does your team understand? Where are the gaps? What is likely to change over the next six or twelve months?
Once those questions are answered, the right support becomes much clearer.
From HACCP and SALSA to BRCGS and beyond
For some clients, that means developing or reviewing a HACCP system. Beacon works with businesses to create HACCP plans tailored to their products, processes and operational risks rather than treating HACCP as a generic document.
For others, it means SALSA consultancy, including gap analysis, documentation, implementation and audit preparation. For larger or more complex manufacturers, it may involve BRCGS consultancy and detailed preparation for certification audits.
There are also businesses that need support with food labelling, supplier audits, laboratory testing, environmental monitoring, allergen analysis, shelf-life work or independent internal audits.
In many cases, these areas overlap. A change to a supplier can affect allergen controls. A new product can affect HACCP. A new site can affect the whole food safety management system. An upcoming customer requirement can mean that a business needs to strengthen its technical systems quite quickly.
This is where having experienced consultants who understand the bigger picture
becomes valuable.
Why experience matters more than a template
There are plenty of food safety documents available online.
The challenge is knowing what should actually be in yours.
A template can give you a starting point, but it cannot know how your particular production line operates, how your employees work, what your products contain, what your suppliers are doing or what risks exist within your premises.
That is why Beacon's approach is centred on practical systems designed around the individual business. The company describes its support as commercially focused, legally compliant and intended to help businesses build robust systems rather than simply pass the next audit.
Katie's experience in major manufacturing environments and Fiona's experience across multiple food categories are particularly useful here because both have spent years dealing with food safety in operational settings.
They understand that compliance ultimately has to leave the meeting room and make its way onto the production floor.
What should you look for in Food Safety Consultants UK?
Experience is the first thing I would investigate.
Look at the consultant's career rather than just their website claims. Have they worked in actual food manufacturing environments? Have they dealt with certification standards? Do they understand the regulatory side? Have they
worked with businesses that are similar to yours?
Then look at the breadth of support available.
A business may initially approach a consultant for HACCP but later need help with labelling, supplier approval, internal audits or certification. Having that expertise under one roof can make the relationship much easier to manage.
Finally, look at what existing clients say.
A successful audit is useful evidence, but so is the feedback that comes afterwards. Are clients saying the consultant made a complicated process easier? Did they feel supported when they had a problem? Did the consultant understand their business? Did they remain involved once the immediate audit was over?
The comments from Joe at House of Britannia, Tom at Yep Kitchen and Angus at Sea Sisters all point towards those qualities.
Why businesses choose Beacon Compliance
Beacon has grown around a fairly simple idea: food safety support should be technically strong but practical enough to work in the real world.
Katie's 24+ years of experience brings together environmental health, major food manufacturing, retailer supply chains, third-party auditing and consultancy. Fiona's 15+ years add deep technical experience across multiple manufacturing sectors and food categories.
Around them is a wider team that provides additional technical, operational and administrative support, allowing Beacon to work with businesses at different
stages of their development.
The result is not simply a consultancy that helps businesses prepare a folder for an auditor.
It is a team that can help a business understand its risks, build systems around its operation, prepare for certification, respond to changes and maintain compliance as it grows.
That is what we believe a good Food Safety Consultant UK should ultimately provide.
About Beacon Compliance
Beacon Compliance provides food safety consultancy and technical support to food manufacturers, producers, retailers, importers and hospitality businesses across the UK.
The team supports businesses with HACCP, SALSA, BRCGS, internal food safety audits, food labelling, supplier audits, laboratory testing and wider food safety compliance, with an emphasis on practical systems that work within real operational environments.
