Advise names Matthew Peat as Chief Category & Growth Officer

Advise has appointed Matthew Peat as Chief Category and Growth Officer. He joins the Dublin-based company after serving on its advisory board for three years.

Peat will lead the company's international growth strategy across North America, Benelux and Scandinavia. He will also work with customers on using its data analytics platform in the fast-moving consumer goods sector.

He brings more than 25 years of FMCG experience across brand owners, market measurement and distribution. He joins from Richmond Marketing, where he spent a decade and most recently served as Director of Strategy and Insight.

During his time there, he helped build the company's insights function and embed insight-led decision-making across the business. Earlier in his career, he held roles including Category Development Manager at LEGO, Senior Insights Manager at NielsenIQ, and positions at Colgate and Heineken while based in New Zealand.

That background gives him direct experience of the operational work involved in processing commercial and customer data.

Advise operates in the FMCG data analytics market and trades as RecommenderX. Its software brings together sales, inventory and customer data from multiple retailers in one place for manufacturers.

International remit

The new role combines category expertise with responsibility for growth in selected overseas markets, including North America, parts of continental Europe and the Nordic region. The appointment points to a broader international remit as the company looks beyond its Dublin base.

Peat's previous relationship with the business may shorten the transition. His three years on the advisory board mean he is already familiar with its management team, customer base and commercial direction.

That familiarity comes as companies across the consumer goods sector face cost pressure and growing volumes of commercial data. Many are investing in analytics tools to improve pricing, ranging, promotions and broader decision-making as margins come under strain.

Matthew Peat, Chief Category and Growth Officer at Advise, said: "The FMCG industry is going through a period of significant change. Businesses are facing rising costs, growing expectations and more data than ever, but the amount of time available to act on it hasn't changed.

"For me, the real opportunity with technology and AI is about freeing people up to spend more time where they can create value. Insight teams are a great example of this. If we can reduce the amount of time spent preparing, manipulating and reporting data, we can create far more space for teams to influence decisions, understand consumers and shoppers, identify growth opportunities and lead stronger category thinking.

"At Advise, we have some exciting new services coming online that are designed to support exactly that shift, and I'm looking forward to seeing the impact they can have for our clients."

Sector experience

Peat's career has spanned several parts of the FMCG supply chain, from manufacturing to retail insight and distribution. That range is likely to be relevant for a company whose customers need to interpret data from multiple trading partners and retail channels.

His time at NielsenIQ and LEGO adds category and data experience, while his roles at Colgate and Heineken bring exposure to major consumer brands. At Richmond Marketing, he worked in strategy and insight during a period when many distributors and brand partners were expanding their use of data tools to guide commercial decisions.

For Advise, the hire signals an effort to combine product adoption with geographic expansion under a single executive role. Peat will support customers in turning data into actionable insights for faster, better decision-making.

The appointment also brings a long-time adviser into the executive team at a time when consumer goods suppliers are seeking clearer visibility on sales, inventory and customer performance across fragmented retail networks.