Name: Richard Peake
Job title: Managing director
Company: Merchant Gourmet
What was your first job? Putting up marquees in the summer holidays. Loved every minute of it.
What’s been your worst job interview? Definitely the one that started off with them saying: “Do you like to read the news, or make the news? Because we want news makers.” From that point onwards, all I could see in front of me was Ricky Gervais.
What was the first music single you bought? Fugees – Ready or Not. Purchased from Our Price.
“In an ideal world, unhealthy and highly processed foods would be expensive through heavy taxation”
How do you describe your job to your friends? I’m fairly sure they still think I work for Mars, which was my first job out of university – I left that job 10 years ago. For the purpose of ease, though, I let them believe that.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? 100% it’s getting to work with an unbelievably talented and fun team towards a united purpose. They are like a family, and it makes coming to work every day a genuine privilege.
What is the least rewarding part of your job? Reflecting on my earlier answer, probably the fact my friends don’t know what I do…
What is your motto in life? “Be the brightest light in the room… always be positive, always be curious, always smile, and in a world where you can be anything – be kind.” I tell this to my children every day.
If you were allowed one dream perk, what would it be? My own full-time personal driver.
Do you have any phobias? I have a fear of buffet-style food, where you have to walk around troughs of food that used to be hot and serve yourself on plates that are too small.
I immediately feel intimidated, believe I am being watched, and then lose my appetite. I am not sure why this is, but probably need to explore it more deeply.
If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be? I often think about the fact that the grocery industry has immense power as a catalyst for change. It is placed to change people’s diets, improve the health of nation, help people live longer and better, reduce pressure on the NHS and look after the planet. How many industries have this kind of power and social responsibility?
In an ideal world, unhealthy and highly processed foods would be expensive through heavy taxation, and difficult to access through a marketing ban. Clean, natural, healthy food would then be super accessible to all through highly subsidised price points and genuine education on its benefits.
What luxury would you have on a desert island? It would be having my little crew with me – consisting of my four young children and my wife. (I would probably change my mind after about a day of my children telling me they are bored and they want an iPad.)
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What animal most reflects your personality? A puppy. I tend to get very excitable, have lots of energy, make a lot of mess, require regular exercising, am good in short bursts, respond well to being offered food, and don’t like being on a tight leash!
What’s your favourite film and why? Elf, because it means it’s Christmas. I’m usually watching it on the sofa and laughing along with my kids (plus it has a great underlying message).
What has been the most embarrassing moment in your life? The incident with the automatic toilet door on the train.
Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why? Jimmy Carr – funny but also an incredibly deep thinker.
What would your death row meal be? I don’t like the idea of choosing just one meal, so I’d probably say a generous selection of tapas-style dishes selected by a good chef, that are brought out at regular intervals (basically the opposite of a buffet). I would be sitting on a massive table on a beach with all my best friends and lots of cold, pale rosé.
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