The Team

Phil has worked in Financial Services and Wealth Management since 1983. With several years’ experience in investment management, he worked with and advised many successful entrepreneurs who have started, built up and sold on their businesses. Phil‘s mother was diagnosed with and later died from metastatic bladder cancer prompting him to research the benefits of CBD and to develop a cure. He continued building his knowledge in CBD and THC compounds beneficial to human health and from that, Medicaleaf™ was born.

Paul’s career began in the Metropolitan Police; specifically, special operations. A move to private security saw him running a close protection team before moving into consultancy and working for larger, global organisations, assisting with staff training and logistical preparedness; with sales management in cellular telecoms, senior sales management with Vodafone and Counter-Piracy protection, working in small teams throughout the Middle East and beyond. Paul founded WalkinWifi specializing in Internet Security within the field of Wi-Fi.

Richard is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) with over 20 years’ financial experience in the regulatory and commercial environment. Richard qualified with Kidsons Impey, then moved to KPMG specialising in Sarbanes Oxley compliance before joining McCann Erickson, part of the Interpublic Group the third largest media and advertising global agency. Richard has experience in the private and listed sectors, raising Richard and restructuring debt, processes and control, setting up Richard departments and reporting packs, and leading many acquisitions and mergers. His experience in M&A ranges from the Richard and legal lead in the sale of a privately-owned Creative Agency for £23m to an AIM listed Group to the purchase small production companies.

Darryl commands a unique position: he has been both a creative & strategic consultant for brands and marketing, with more than 20 years of director level experience. Combining this career with a professional performance and development coach in the health, fitness & wellbeing industry. Darryl’s depth of knowledge, interest and research in the medicinal properties of cannabinoids and his professional connections with leading protagonists in the legalisation of medicinal cannabis mean he is well qualified to advise Medicaleaf™ in its vital brand development.

Stephen Ritchie

E-Commerce Expert & Adviser

Coming from a family retail background, Stephen became involved in developing e-commerce business first locally then nationally, growing intelligent e-commerce and business systems for many international brands, with revenues exceeding $1bn in online trade. By not following the crowd and taking a ‘customers to fans’ mentality, he built an international business around intelligent retailing e-commerce with proprietary software. One of his ventures, the UK retailer ‘Allsaints’, for 2 years in succession, was the fastest growing global fashion company online, with sales from zero reaching $100m annually over only 3 years (physical stores revenues at the same time were $200m).

Sunanda Bailey

Head of Innovation Management

Sunanda is experienced working with start-up companies’ leadership teams as they evolve to meet new challenges and expectations, supporting their vision and goals with innovation to best help them reach those goals.
Her early career in the call-centre industry, call handling plus campaign & project management, led to setting up and managing the call-centre for PPP Group at PPP Lifetime Care, and then to being head-hunted for a consultant role with The L&R Group, later Sitel Corp. With clients in telecoms, insurance, professional education, mail-order and utilities, key achievements included management training in French; co-ordinating the origination and route to market for a professionally accredited qualification for the Institute of Direct Marketing and running the first courses to Call Centre Managers; setting up and managing a respected monthly industry network event.

Later, consulting in her own practice with entrepreneurs and SME’s, now involving digital transformation, building new products, services and platforms to respond to customer demand, included building an e-learning platform for a global consulting practice; developing internal capabilities to better serve customers; automation of key processes; digitization of functions partnering with business units and external suppliers to support the process.

Dr Raj Dhami

Head of Product Development

With over 20 years’ experience in research and development (R&D) in the FMCG sector, Raj will make an excellent contribution to bringing Medicaleaf™’s vision to life. Following his university studies culminating in a PhD in Biochemistry, Raj has enjoyed tenures with some of the biggest names in UK food and beverage manufacturers including the likes of Cadbury’s (now Mondelez International), Britvic and United Biscuits (now Pladis). Raj’s career in R&D has spanned analytical service provision, through ingredient technology development all the way through to existing and new product & process development. It is this experience in confectionery, baked goods and still / carbonated beverages coupled with his creative problem solving and disciplined approach to technical execution that makes him ideally placed to bring new products to the marketplace.

Jordan Burling-Mumford

Research & Development Associate Director

Jordan has a Physics PhD from UCL and has worked as an FCA regulated Investment Specialist with two leading high street banks, currently HSBC Bank plc, for over 7 years.

Jordan suffers from a long list of debilitating conditions stemming from his first epileptic seizure at 16. He has a broken spine, a terminally damaged nerve cluster (S1 Gangliotic Radiculopathy) is in constant pain from these and other injuries associated with his condition. Over the years, and as the only treatment in the absence of a cure, he was prescribed and became addicted to opiate painkillers.
When he recently chose to continue his life opioid-free he found relief using CBD oils (you can read his full story here). Jordan joins MedicaLeaf with the clear mission to help others suffering chronic pain and to test alternatives to the current treatment options.

With his scientific background and training he will be involved in ongoing clinical trials and will share regular updates via this website and as a face of the business. Jordan’s regular blog will feature monthly updates on his personal journey and provide insight and guidance on what is working for him.

Lee Hibbert

Strategic Business Adviser

Lee is an experienced business adviser in world trade. With a unique insight in agricultural trade, he is well placed to advise the Medicaleaf™ to develop its business successfully.

With expertise in: Training, Healthcare, Supply Chain, Compliance, Consultancy, and as a lead auditor in ISO 9001, 27001, 22301, 31000, 22301, 18788. He is a strategic and operational leader who designs and implements business plans at a tactical level.

With a Masters in Organisational Resilience and Risk manager, Lee anticipates, prepares for, responds to and adapts to organisation’s threats, risks and changes, reducing the impact of such events through effective horizon scanning and continuity planning. Lee will oversee Medicaleaf™’s compliance credentials to accelerate brand recognition, all licensing applications and grant applications.

Susie Harrison

Clinical Research Adviser

National Institute of Health Research. Clinical Research Network West Midlands Research Delivery Manager (Anaesthesia/Peri-operative medicine & Pain Management, Critical Care, Injuries/ Emergencies, Surgery, ENT, Diseases/Microbiology, Ophthalmology, Respiratory Disorders, Gastroenterology, Hepatology).

Susie has worked in the NHS for 27 years, an RGN at Selly Oak Hospital; later a Registered Midwife at the Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Gaining a BSc. (Hons.) in Public Health later in life, Susie worked for Solihull PCT in Clinical Governance with responsibility for R&D. In 2008 she was appointed as BBC CLRN RM&G Operational Manager, with specific responsibility for primary care in 3 separate NHS Trusts, providing community care and mental health services.

Her role involved supporting study management & delivery and providing a quality assurance service for NIHR portfolio studies. Susie has been a member of various national groups advising on national policy and processes. These include the R&D Forum: Primary Care Working Group, the national NIHR CSP Steering Group, and she was a Department of Health “Champion for Research Support”. She is still a member of the NHS R&D Forum: Research Management Working Group.