Penny Newman

Penny Newman

Penny Newman is the new head of Platform 51, the new brand for Young Women's Christian Association in England & Wales. She is the former CEO of Jamie Oliver's chef training academy the Fifteen Foundation and the former CEO of Cafédirect. Cafédirect is the UK's leading Fairtrade hot drinks company which blazed the trail for Fairtrade, taking it from a niche market and placing it into the mainstream. Today a quarter of a million coffee, tea and cocoa producers benefit from Cafédirect's trading model, with many consumers enjoying their Fairtrade products. This has resulted in Cafédirect being the leading Fairtrade hot drinks brand in both retail and out of home, as well as the 6th largest coffee brand, the 4th largest Roast & Ground brand, and one of the fastest growing tea brands in the UK. Penny is also a member of the Women's Enterprise Panel, which was formed by the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in late 2004 to examine options for the establishment of a national Women's Business Council and to champion the acceleration of the development of women's enterprise in the UK.