Speakers
Sir Ben Gill CBE MA (Cantab)
Sir Ben is a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Managing Director of the Hawk Creative Business Park Ltd and part of the committee which put together our programme for the Great North Meet.
Born in 1950 Ben studied Agriculture at St John’s College, Cambridge before working in Uganda for over 3 years where he established a working school farm, and a GCE O level course. On returning to the UK he worked as a farm manager in East Yorkshire for 2 years before taking over the family farm in 1978.
He became actively involved in the NFU in the early eighties assuming a variety of roles locally and then nationally culminating in the National Presidency from 1998 to 2004 during which time he had to deal with a variety of crises such as BSE and Foot and Mouth disease as well as more positive work which led to the major reform of the CAP in 2003. During that period he obtained extensive experience in Europe as President of the Confederation of European Agriculture from 2000 to 2004 which saw the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 countries; and on the world front as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Body: International Federation of Agricultural Producers.
Since retiring from the NFU he has established his own business Hawkhills Consultancy Ltd which specializes in advising agrifood businesses on food and farming and also into renewable energy where he has a particular interest and expertise in the use of biomass. In 2005 Ben chaired the Government’s Biomass Task Force which produced a comprehensive set of recommendations (which have been largely adopted by the Government) to improve the uptake of biomass as a renewable energy source.
PowerPoint
presentation from Sir Ben Gill CBE MA (Cantab) (463KB)
Colin McGregor
Colin McGregor took over the daily management of the family arable farming
business in 1989 aged 21.
Since then the business has grown from 300 ha to 3000 ha which is currently farmed under a range of agreements.
He is married to Jill and they have two boys aged 6 and 3.
PowerPoint
presentation from Colin McGregor (715KB)
Ralph Thompson
Ralph
is 27 and from Alnwick, Northumberland.
Ralph established ATS an agricultural contracting business in 1999 whilst studying for a National Diploma in Agriculture at Kirkley Hall College. The business now offers a full range of contracting services and employs three full time staff plus two seasonal.
Ralph also farms 455ac as a tenant of The Duke of Northumberland; the land is cropped with short term ryegrass leys which are used to produce Silvermoor Haylage a branded palletised product which is sold on a trade only basis throughout Scotland and Northern England. This business was established in 2005 and now employs two fulltime and one part time.
PowerPoint
presentation from Ralph Thompson (583KB)
Rod Smith
Rod was born in Dumfries in 1970 and moved to Beal Farm in 1972. His father
took the tenancy for Beal Farm before buying it in 1986.
He attended Merchiston Castle school in Edinburgh where he obtained various honours on the sporting field. Rod stayed in Edinburgh to achieve an HND in Farm Management before returning to the farm after various courses in the army.
He and his father farm in partnership together covering 1000 acres of predominantly arable land. Over the last ten years it has become very apparant that farming has gone through huge peaks and troughs and so Rod decided to develop what is now known as the Barn at Beal project which opened in March 2008. The Barn at Beal is a restaurant/coffee shop which serves the best of local food all freshly prepared in the kitchen. The project has also extended to a Birds of Prey centre which opened in July 2008.
Donald MacPherson
Donald
was born and brought up on the west coast of Scotland, five miles north of
Connel Bridge, in Barcaldine, near Oban. His family bred cattle and sheep
and enjoyed showing animals locally and nationally.
He studied Animal Production Science at Edinburgh University and graduated in 1984. Donald’s first tenant farm was a hill place in Appin, Argyll but the rain drove them east to Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1989. They lived at Baldersbury Hill for 17 years before buying a small farm on the outskirts of the town.
Donald is married to Sarah and they have 3 sons, Murray (22), Nicol (19) and Ross (9). They own 66 acres on the edge of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, renting further grazing acres adjacent and are currently living in the town while awaiting planning permission for a house on the farm.
They run a small herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle and a small flock of pedigree Texel sheep. Previous to foot and mouth they were tenant farmers on a mixed farm, but having sold off their Limousin cross cows for restocking, they replaced them with pedigree Angus to supply their new venture “Well Hung and Tender “.
For six years the MacPherson’s have sold their grass-fed beef at Farmers’ Markets and through their website. Early on in their new venture Donald was lucky enough to be awarded a Nuffield Scholarship and travelled to Australia and America to study beef production methods and grading systems. He has tried to incorporate as many of the good practices he discovered while abroad into the business. They have also ventured into event catering with their uniquely decorated unit, cooking beef burgers and steaks baguettes. The latest expansion is a modest takeaway in Edinburgh with a fresh meat counter offering pre-packed beef.
PowerPoint
presentation from Donald MacPherson (562KB)
Hugh Fell
Hugh Fell is the fourth son of a Lincolnshire farmer who instead of going into the church! decided to migrate north and went into partnership with George White in Northumberland in 1985.
Over the last 24 years, Hugh has helped to build the firm of George F White into one of the regions most high profile consultancies in the rural economy specialising in property and business issues. The firm employs 70 people and has experience and successfully met all the challenges associated with a small growing business. The effective management of the people resource is perceived by Hugh and the rest of his partners as the most critical thing they need to get right.
Over the years, Hugh has built up a national profile on the valuation of rural based property and leads the RICS Rural Valuation Group and is a former member of their valuations standards board. In 1995, he was appointed as the UK’s youngest Agricultural Arbitrator and has recently been appointed an accredited mediator. He has extensive experience in providing focus on issues of relevant fact in order to get the parties to concentrate on what is really important and thereby come to a resolution of their dispute.
Hugh has an in depth understanding of SME business structures and economics and has a strong track record in business restructure, fund placement and release and strategic management of wealth.
PowerPoint
presentation from Hugh Fell (966KB)
Frances Rowe
Frances
joined One NorthEast in 2001 to work on rural policy following the foot and
mouth outbreak. Until recently she headed up the Agency’s rural team and
programme, overseeing preparations for the Rural Development Programme for
England, and is currently responsible for the Agency’s rural partnerships and
policy work.
Frances’ career has spanned the private, public and voluntary sectors. An alumni of Harper Adams University College, she has a foundation degree in agricultural marketing and business administration and worked as a technical journalist for consumer and trade publications.
She moved to the voluntary sector in 1987 to become Assistant Director of the Council for National Parks in London, and then to Newcastle in 1989 to take up the new post of Marketing and Development Manager with Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
Frances was appointed to the Northumberland National Park Authority as a secretary of state appointee in 1991. She became Chair of the Authority in 1996, a position she held until 2000, and Vice-Chairman of the Association of National Parks - the first secretary of state appointee to be elected to the position. She was also a Board member of the former Countryside Agency, from 2000 to 2005, and joined One North East in 2001.
In 2006 Frances secured a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to the USA to look at how farmers are reconnecting with their communities via local food development.
Frances lives in Hexham with sculptor David Edwick, and their three sons Michael, William and Thomas.
PowerPoint
presentation from Frances Rowe (715KB)
Mike Keeble
Mike
Keeble is part of the committee which put together our programme for the Great
North Meet.
Mike’s background is farm management and his family farm in Wensleydale, where they are tenants. They have maintained a herd of Limousin cattle since becoming one of the farms which introduced the breed to the UK in 1971. They also keep a sheep flock.
Up to 2001 Mike spent 15 years acting as a consultant to Strutt and Parker on their promotion and development side covering all their conferences and outside events. He is a well known journalist in all medias, with a regular column in Farmers Guardian and regional press as well as being on the editorial team of Johnstone Publishing’s Agriculture titles. He also fills around 40 days a year as a commentator at various shows.
Mike is currently responsible for the Red Meat Industry forum in the 3 Northern RDA's. He is a member of the Chancellors Agricultural Land Tribunal and an executive member of the Tenant Farmers Association Council representing them on the Ministers Advisory body ULMAP (Uplands). Mike is also an advisor to the EU funded Limestone Project.
Prof Stuart Lane
Professor Stuart Lane is Executive Director of the Institute of Hazard and
Risk Research in Durham University.
His training is in Geography and Civil Engineering and the focus of his research us upon flooding, drought and water quality in rivers and streams. From living on a small-holding, he has a particular interest in rural areas.
He has published over 150 articles in journals and books, received awards and best paper prizes for his research and received funding from research councils, charities, industry and government.
PowerPoint
presentation from Prof Stuart Lane (2.582MB)
Richard Garland
Richard
joined George F White as a Rural Practice Surveyor in 2006, prior to which he
had been employed as Conservation Manager on a 1700acre organically run estate
in Norfolk. He has a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of
East Anglia and a Masters Degree in Rural Estate Management from the Royal
Agricultural College where he graduated with Distinction, being awarded the
Harker Silver Medal.
For his Masters Dissertation, Richard investigated the potential impacts of climate change on the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; developing new, accessible methods to allow land managers to envisage the predicted changes and making recommendations for the future. Richard’s research is now being used by the Cotswolds Conservation Board to assist in driving policy to protect the area and allow it to adapt to future changes in climate.
Richard has furthered this research, adapting techniques developed on the Cotswolds to land and farms in the North East and land investment generally. He has given several presentations of this research to the public, including the North Sheep Event 2007. Richard’s approach is one of an impartial commentator on the climate change predictions, offering a ‘what if’ approach based on a sound background of scientific knowledge and practical experience. He continues to be involved in research in this area, including contribution to working groups on methodology for the valuation of water resources and amenity trees.
PowerPoint
presentation from Richard Garland (1.981MB)
Rupert Wailes-Fairbairn
Rupert was brought up on a farm in Northumberland and studied Agriculture at Cirencester. He then spent four years as a private client stock broker with Brewin Dolphin before returning to Cirencester to complete the Advanced Farm Management Course in 1990. Moving back home in 1991, Rupert took on the family farm, gaining BASIS and FACTS qualifications along the way and in 1998 formed Otter Arable Ltd , a machinery contracting company with John Baker-Cresswell. Otter Arable went on to perform stubble to stubble operations on 3200 acres.Rupert is a past director of Borders Machinery Ring and Scottish Borders Produce (growers of vining peas and beans).
In 2003 Rupert joined the Rural Division of Lycetts, specialising in farm, estate and commercial insurances, becoming an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) in 2005. In 2006, he undertook the Worshipful Company of Farmers Advanced Agribusiness Management Course at Wye, and in the same year, after the other two Directors of Otter Arable converted to organic farming, McGregor Farms were appointed to carry out all arable operations at Berrington on a contract basis.
PowerPoint
presentation from Rupert Wailes-Fairbairn (463KB)
Tim Evans
Tim
Evans is Managing Director of Cambridge based “Renewable Zukunft Ltd” and its
Austrian sister company “BioG Biogastechnik GmbH”.
A leading protagonist of Renewable Energy and fuel sustainability, Tim gained his initial interest in the sector whilst farming in former East German during the 1990’s. An involvement in East Germany’s first biodiesel company in 1994 was followed by work on a biogas project in 1997 which later proved to be the catalyst for founding Renewable Zukunft in the UK.
Renewable Zukunft offers Joint Venture Biogas projects with UK partners in the agricultural, food processing and waste management industries and utilises the award winning “second generation”, BioG biogas system developed in Austria.
Presentation from Tim Evans (1.752MB)
Harry Chrisp
Harry Chrisp read archaeology at Edinburgh University before joining the
Light Dragoons in 1990.
On the untimely death of his father in 1995 Harry left the army to take over the tenancy of Longbank Farm, a predominantly arable farm near Alnwick which is part of Northumberland Estates. Harry continues to farm at Longbank in partnership with his wife, Caroline.
Harry qualified as a solicitor at Dickinson Dees LLP and works there in the Agriculture, Farms and Estates Team.
