---
title: "The Industry Leaders Podcast: Nathan Smith, CEO of Whittard of Chelsea"
description: Whittard of Chelsea is adapting to a data-first business model and becoming a digital-first brand. Hear from Whittard's CEO about what the future holds.
image: https://www.more2.com/hubfs/More2%20website%20move%20images/Imported_Blog_Media/1500x500px-PodcastBanner_NS.jpg
---

# The Industry Leaders Podcast: Nathan Smith, CEO of Whittard of Chelsea

 July 1, 2021 •[Sorcha OBoyle](https://www.more2.com/blog/author/sorcha-oboyle)

**

[Podcast](https://www.more2.com/blog/tag/podcast)• [News](https://www.more2.com/blog/tag/news)• [Insight](https://www.more2.com/blog/tag/insight)

![](https://www.more2.com/hs-fs/hubfs/More2%20website%20move%20images/Imported_Blog_Media/1500x500px-PodcastBanner_NS.jpg?height=630&name=1500x500px-PodcastBanner_NS.jpg)

Founded in 1886, Whittard of Chelsea has stood the test of time and is one of the UK's best-loved brands. Famous for its incredible selection of teas, coffees and hot chocolates (as well as a fantastic in-store experience), Whittard has weathered the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic and is continuing its journey to a data-first business model.

In this episode, we caught up with Nathan Smith who first joined Whittard of Chelsea back in 2009 and worked his way up the ladder to become CEO in 2019. Nathan shared his experience of what's it like to transition from CFO to CEO, how to find out what a business needs to change (and why) and how a 150 year-old direct-to-consumer business can adapt to keep up with digital transformation in the modern marketplace.

Enjoy! And don't forget, you can catch up on all previous episodes of the Industry Leaders Podcast here, on Spotify or your usual podcast provider. 

 

Want to learn more about something covered in this episode? Or just fancy a good old-fashioned chat? Get in touch here, we'd love to hear from you!

 

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