110 ABOUT

I'm Ben. I live in Hitchin, Hertfordshire with my three boys and I've spent about half my adult life in Australia and half in the UK. I still don't know which one is home, probably it's both. I love music, football, Rik Mayall, learning about all of this tech stuff and absolutely love retail and consumer products that make a dent in the world.

I have spent twenty years inside supermarkets and consumer businesses: Woolworths and Coles in Australia and Dixons & Tesco in the UK plus a fair go in consulting where I got to help out Morrisons, Burberry, Argos amongst others. That is a long time watching very capable people make decisions with incomplete information, under pressure, with a story already written about why 'it' would work.

Most of the interesting things I know came from noticing when the story and the numbers disagreed, and going to find out which one was lying. Turns out, everyone is a little bit right and a little bit wrong all the time. Perspective is a funny old thing.

That's the thinking that this site is built on. I don't expect anyone to like it.

I'm suspicious of received explanations, I like going to the place and checking, and I'd rather be wrong in public than vague in private.

I started Emerson Growth, a commercial growth and equity advisory firm for consumer brands and retailers. If that's why you're here, emersongrowth.com is the door.

Alongside that I build things. AI agents, local models, a fizzy drink with my eldest, and a working idea that asks what mechanism actually explains a retail outcome. Some of it will become pages here. Some of it will die. Both are fine by me.

Why it looks like this. Ceefax was the BBC's teletext service, 1974 to 2012: numbered pages, black screen, block colour, a clock in the corner, and a tone that told you the news without asking how you felt about it. I grew up with it. Everything here has a page number. You never have to type one. The service is not affiliated with the BBC, who would probably rather I didn't do this. If you're from the BBC and it annoys you, let me know.

Arsenal. Lots of music, most genres, no loyalty. LinkedIn is https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-trotman/ if you need it.

Go and find out.