Non-Executive Director, Commodity Services Customer Strategy

Put customer concentration into the strategy discussion

Large accounts may support efficient operations while gaining enough influence to weaken pricing and contractual discipline. The director will help the board assess that tension and determine whether customer strategy is producing durable enterprise value. They should challenge revenue measures that do not reveal the operating burden or liability attached to individual services.

Where commercial and credit decisions meet

Board review should connect account profitability with payment behaviour, collateral obligations and the cost of bespoke reporting or handling requirements. The director will question whether cross-selling creates useful diversification or simply increases exposure to the same counterparty. They will examine the implications of expanding from storage into more demanding collateral or financing services.

The appointee will contribute to decisions on strategic partnerships, major contract renewals and service investment. Management must explain alternatives when a customer seeks concessions: repricing, changing scope, investing in delivery capability or accepting a managed exit. The director should encourage explicit choices instead of quiet erosion of service standards.

Executive teams retain ownership of negotiations, customer communication and day-to-day allocation of resources. The director should avoid giving customers informal assurances or creating parallel reporting relationships with account managers. Conflicts involving commercial counterparties must be declared and managed through board processes.

Experience sought

Candidates need senior commercial or general-management experience in commodity services, warehousing, collateral management or related trade businesses. Evidence should show how they assessed customer economics and navigated the consequences of concentration. Understanding credit and operational risk is necessary to contribute beyond a conventional sales perspective.

The board values someone able to challenge strategy without dismissing the realities of relationship-driven markets. Financial literacy, integrity and constructive engagement with executives are essential; previous board service is advantageous.

Success will be reflected in clearer choices about customers and services, better visibility of account economics and investment decisions that build capabilities the enterprise can sustain. The director should help management defend commercially valuable relationships while recognising when their terms no longer serve the wider business.