Juniper Strategy appoints Helene Mills as Partner and extends practice to Travel & Leisure

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Helene Mills as Partner at Juniper Strategy. With over 25 years’ experience in insight-driven strategy consultancy, Helene brings exceptional expertise in growth strategy and due diligence across diverse sectors including Hospitality, Travel & Leisure. Past clients include senior stakeholders of GAILs, Nando’s, Pret, Travelodge, Urban Legacies, Pure Gym, BOXPARK, Pizza Express International and Burger King.

Helene began her consultancy career at Pragma Consulting, where she progressed from Analyst to Director and built deep expertise over nearly two decades with the firm. She later joined Incite as Director of Consumer Strategy, leading insight-led growth and brand strategy projects across a broad range of consumer sectors over more than three years. In December 2022, she joined STRAT7 as Partner in their Advisory team, working with clients across diverse sectors on growth strategy and due diligence.

Helene’s career is grounded in a blend of scientific rigour and commercial acumen. After graduating in Human Sciences from the University of Oxford, she began her career as an Analyst at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. She then joined John Lewis & Partners through their Management Trainee Programme, where she developed a first-hand understanding of retail and consumer behaviour, before transitioning into consumer strategy consulting. Helene joins a dynamic team of seasoned hospitality and consumer strategy experts at Juniper; Florence Graham-Dixon brings 12+ of experience, having worked with major brands like Pizza Pilgrims, Ottolenghi and Hawksmoor, alongside private equity clients, visitor attractions and commercial developers including Kleppiere, intu and Land Securities; Alison Vickers, who was instrumental in driving the expansion of YO! Sushi from just 4 locations to 100, has supported franchising and expansion efforts for brands such as Gusto, Tonkotsu and Pho, and leads catering tenders for major airports; Vida Tayebi who has extensive experience adapting and developing F&B concepts across the Middle East and Europe alongside defining the F&B vision for GCI’s award-winning office development, Latitude in Paris.

Helene’s appointment further strengthens Juniper’s ability to provide insight-driven strategic advice across the hospitality, travel and leisure sectors. Her experience complements our existing work with clients including Parkdean Resorts, Blenheim Palace and Etihad Rail. Combining Helene’s background in consumer strategy and growth consultancy with Juniper’s expertise in areas such as commercial due diligence, market entry, concept development, location planning and scalability assessments broadens the support we can offer clients as they grow and evolve. We are excited to be working together to help ambitious brands navigate change and unlock new opportunities across the global hospitality and consumer landscape.