The Team

Richard is a Follow Chartered Accountant (FCA) with the ICAEW (Institute for Chartered Accountants of England & Wales). Richard qualified through Kidsons Impey before moving to KPMG and has over 20 years of commercial and financial experience within the Marketing & Advertising and on-retail sectors. Working in both the private and listed company’s, Richard understands the requirement for ensuring growth and profit generation for owners and major stakeholders.
Richard has worked for some well know global businesses such as Interpublic Group Inc and PRG XL Video focusing
on commercial performance and specialising in Corporate Governance and working in highly regulated and controlled environments, such as the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002. At KMPG Richard was the seconded to a global pharmaceutical manufacturer as a Sarbanes Oxley expert to ensure that all the required processes and controls were documented and in operation to comply the Act.

Richard has also regularly been involved and acquisitions and mergers, his first exposure to acquisitions was assisting on the MBO and VC financing for the private sale of a major high street discount book chain. More recently Richard was the financial and legal lead in the sale of a privately owned Creative Agency for £23m to an AIM listed Group.

In his most recent role Richard was the sole lead in the acquisition of one Video Production company and had 6 other acquisitions consecutively, spanning from the Republic of Ireland to Germany with a potential £10m funding required. As part of his M&A role Richard was responsible for ensuring the smooth integration of acquisitions into the systems and reporting operations of the new parent company.

Sunanda is experienced with setting up sales teams and processes within both start-up companies and mature corporations, Sunanda has an entrepreneurial approach to all of her sales projects and a deep understanding of the health and wellbeing sector.

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, lead to a consultant role with The L&R Group, later Sitel Corp. With clients in telecoms, insurance, professional education, mail-order and utilities, 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; set up and managed 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.

Darryl Canham commands a unique position. He is both a Creative & Strategic consultant for brands and marketing with more than 20 years of director level experience. Combined with this career, he has been a professional performance enhancement coach in the health, fitness & wellbeing industry. His work with professional dancers, athletes from all disciplines, people recovering from injury, even film and television performers give him a unique perspective on the wide and growing audience for lifestyle and medicinal Cannabis based products.

Darryl is well qualified to guide MedicaleafTM Limited in its vital Brand Development due to his depth of knowledge through interest and research of the medicinal properties of Cannabinoids and his professional connections with leading Protagonists in the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.

Phil was involved in the Financial Services industry from 1983, latterly in Wealth Management. He completed his earn out as a partner of his firm so that he could focus on the role of developing the commercial potential of Medicaleaf TM from June 2019.

With several years of experience in investment management, Phil has worked with and advised many successful entrepreneurs who have started, built up and sold on their businesses. Phil has ‘retired’ from current activities specifically to apply his expertise to a business model he passionately believes in.

Phil started researching extensively into the benefits of medicinal cannabis more than four years ago when his Mother was diagnosed with metastasised bladder cancer. Unfortunately, Phil’s time to develop a cure ran out.

His Mother lost her battle. However, Phil became unwaveringly determined to continue building his knowledge in the areas in which CBD and THC compounds could be beneficial to human health. Phil has surrounded himself with a team of consummate professionals who are proving invaluable in their ability to create a hi-tech company capable of designing, manufacturing and distributing lifestyle, wellbeing and medicinal cannabis products via three main brands throughout Europe, whilst also preparing the ground for consumers to receive them.

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.

Paul Ford’s career began in the Metropolitan Police, where he was fast-tracked into special operations. Paul then moved into the Private Security sector where he ran a close protection team before moving into consultancy and working for larger, global organisations assisting with training and logistical preparedness. Attracted by opportunities presented in the technology boom, Paul worked for three separate cellular telecoms companies in sales management roles, culminating in a senior sales management position at Vodafone in 2006.

Since leaving Vodafone, a large part of Paul’s time was utilised in providing worldwide security consultancy services to significant individuals and their families. Paul has used his experience in training roles in the Middle East, specialising in training Communications and Conflict Management to foreign security teams. He has completed a PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Sector) Course, the first step for a national qualification in training. Alongside this work, Paul has completed a number of tasks in the field of Counter-Piracy protection, working in small teams throughout the Middle East and beyond.

Latterly Paul has been working and consulting within the Wi-Fi provision and security industry. Highly effective at building professional relationships at all levels within National Brand organisations and companies, he has also worked with senior level teams within both the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the UK Home Office for whom his company were advisors on Internet Security within the field of Wi-Fi.

Coming from a family retail background Stephen became involved in developing e-commerce business first locally then nationally, which then turned internationally for mainstream brands and retailers. By deciding not to follow the crowd, he built an international business around intelligent retailing e-commerce with proprietary so ware lead from trusted methods of the best experience retailing scaleable for global brands.

One of his ventures, ‘AllSaints’, the UK retailer, became the fastest growing global fashion company online. For 2 years in succession, with sales reaching $100m annually from zero over only 3 years. (Physical stores revenues at the same time were $200m).

Never satisfied with the status quo, Stephen will challenge every area of business, marketing, sales, admin et al with a ‘customers to fans’ mentality. Making whichever business in whichever sector perform better than the leaders. Whether it be a startup or an established heritage brand.

“In my opinion, choosing not to follow the crowd is what makes the ‘not yet done’ doable. Having built an intelligent and growing commerce and business system for many international brands (and o en copied by lesser companies), with revenues exceeding $1bn dollars in-online trade, kind of makes me able to say I know what I’m doing”.

Jordan Burling-Mumford

Research & Development Associate

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.