People often ask where the name 2020 Drinks comes from.

Part of the answer is 20/20 vision: the ability to see clearly, focus on what matters and maintain perspective when faced with complex decisions.

The other part is 20/20 hindsight.

After more than 30 years in the drinks industry, I've learned that some of the most valuable lessons come from experience. Successful projects teach useful lessons, but so do the challenges, setbacks and occasional mistakes that every business encounters.

Those experiences provide a clearer understanding of what can go wrong, where risks are often hidden and how problems can be avoided before they become costly.

The aim of 2020 Drinks is to combine both perspectives: the clarity to focus on the future and the experience to learn from the past.

In practice, that means helping drinks businesses make better decisions, align strategy with delivery and achieve practical, sustainable results.

I've spent my career working in and around drinks manufacturing, from production lines and process operations through to senior leadership roles, factory developments, technical management, strategic planning and business transformation. Along the way I've been fortunate to be involved in some fantastic successes.

I've also had a front-row seat to the occasional expensive mistake, unforeseen complication, flawed assumption and ambitious project that turned out to be rather more complicated than it looked on the PowerPoint slide.

Those experiences have proved every bit as valuable.

When you've seen enough factory builds, equipment installations, technical challenges, packaging projects and organisational change programmes, patterns begin to emerge. You start to recognise the risks that don't appear in project plans, the assumptions nobody has challenged and the small decisions that can create very large problems later.

That's where I aim to help my clients.

My role is rarely to tell people how to run their business. More often, it is to provide an experienced perspective, ask awkward questions before they become expensive questions and help translate good intentions into practical action.

Sometimes that means reviewing a packaging line.

Sometimes it means conducting a supplier audit or helping develop a sustainability programme.

Sometimes it means facilitating discussions about strategy, vision and organisational alignment.

And occasionally it means helping someone avoid making a mistake that I may have already made myself many years ago.

I believe good consultancy is not about having all the answers.

It's about bringing enough experience, curiosity and perspective to help organisations find the right ones.

After all, hindsight may be 20/20, but it is considerably more useful when applied before the next decision is made.