Ben Cleghorn
Technical Director, Fresh Hub Holdings
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BIO
Ben graduated from the Royal Agricultural College in 2000 where he completed a degree in Agriculture. As part of the course, Ben spent six months working for a major vegetable producer in southern France, which paved the way for a career in fresh produce. Having worked for several UK growers and importers, Ben was part of Parallel UK’s founding team; helping to establish the business in 2009. Drawing on his experience in the field and managing the technical agenda for a number of retailers, Ben is currently Technical Director at Fresh Hub Holdings
Claire Donovan
Interim Ethical Lead, Worldwide Fruit
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BIO
Claire has worked in both retail and the supply chain throughout her career since gaining a degree in Agriculture from Seale-Hayne College in 1995. When bagged salads started to gain prominence, Claire was working as a Product Technologist for Tesco, where she managed the prepared produce category. This led to an interest in the microbiological aspects of fresh produce, and an awareness of consumers’ understanding of the food they eat. Claire has worked as a Technical Director at SH Pratt and at IVG White, plus she has held the position of Group Technical Director at G’s Fresh. She has been lucky enough, therefore, to manage diverse areas of the produce sector; from strawberries to onions, and most things in between. For the past seven years, Claire has enjoyed working with Zero Carbon Farms, and she is very excited to see what the future holds for vertical and urban farming. Since 2019 Claire has engaged in a consultancy career to support businesses through a variety of challenges, including technical, vision and values, and audit implementation. Currently, Claire is working with Worldwide Fruit as the Interim Ethical Lead to help shape the ethical trade and social responsibility direction of travel for the business. Claire also has a keen interest in coaching and mentoring, as well as Sports Psychology, which she believes has much to teach about workplace stress. In her consulting career she helps people in the food industry to get the best from both themselves and their situation.
Emma Cleal
Horticultural Engagement Officer, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Bridgewater
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BIO
Emma is the Horticultural Engagement Officer for RHS Bridgewater. She works on the RHS careers promotion initiative New Shoots, which focuses on showcasing the breadth of careers available in the ornamental horticulture sector. Her professional background is in Horticultural Education. Emma has worked in various areas of the horticulture industry; from pricking out seedlings in a nursery (her first Saturday job) to being Head Gardener on a private estate. Talk to Emma about finding work experience placements, T-Levels, and how to identify different careers in horticulture that match your interests
George Beach
Founder & Managing Director, Mudwalls Farm
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BIO
George Beach has food and farming at his heart; having grown up on the family farm in Warwickshire where he learned all about the challenges and pleasures of growing fruit and vegetables. Although George would not describe himself as an academic, on leaving school he was employed by Tesco to work in Quality Assurance at one of their produce depots. While this provided a sound background to both the retail industry and the challenges of handling large volumes of produce from multiple sources, ultimately, George knew that his future lay with the family business. On leaving Tesco, George returned to the family farm. He adopted a more commercial focus for the produce Mudwalls was supplying to the major supermarkets, as well as helped to develop a Farm Shop. Over the subsequent years, the shop established itself as a popular shopping destination in its own right. That alone, however, was not going to develop George’s skills as broadly as he wished. Next, he grasped an opportunity to become Commercial Director at Advanced Marketing Services, where he assisted in growing the business to achieve a turnover in the region of £30 million. In 2008, George took his first real business gamble when he set up a retail business in London with two former Food Buyers from Marks and Spencer. Although initially successful, that concept was probably ahead of its time, prompting George to cut his ties and return to the family farm with the aim of developing the wholesale side of the family business. From humble beginnings of driving a van of produce to many prestigious London restaurants on a daily basis, George had a vision to grow the business in to something much bigger. Over the last 12 years, George has developed the ‘Mudwalls’ brand and the business in to its current position. Today, Mudwalls turns over close to £10 million and has evolved into a local supplier to small businesses, a key supplier and logistics provider to five Coop Societies, a key supplier to the major UK retailers, and a growing export business of British produce to Asia. In July 2020, Mudwalls became part of the Sea Fresh Holdings Group based in Redditch, Worcestershire, and is now a subsidiary of a large plc. Nonetheless, the business has retained its name Mudwalls Farm, and continues with its values of honesty, sustainability and ethics.
Jan England
Managing Director, England Marketing
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BIO
Jan England has been at the helm of England Marketing for 28 years where she has focused on market research and business development across the whole agriculture and food supply chain. During those years there has been a significant focus on the world of fresh produce; whether from a farming perspective through to understanding consumers’ attitudes towards fruits and vegetables. Jan is also a partner in her family’s faming business, a Great Taste judge and a Quality Food awards judge. She is well-placed to advise new talent about the future of fresh produce, and the careers available within the sector.
John Giles
Divisional Director Agri-Food, Promar International
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BIO
John is a Divisional Director of Promar International, the agri food value chain consulting subsidiary of Genus. He holds a BSc Economics degree from the University College of Swansea. John is also the President of the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Food, Drink and Agriculture Group, and a past Chair of the UK Institute of Agricultural Management. John has worked extensively on fresh and processed fruit and vegetable marketing-based assignments throughout the UK and in 60 other countries across the European Union, eastern Europe, Russia, North and South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Typical assignments have included: market research and consulting; value chain assessments; export development; as well as sustainability and agri-tech issues. John has spoken at and helped to organise numerous agri-food conferences, seminars and other events worldwide. Additionally, John is a Visiting Lecturer at both the University of Reading, one of the top 10 agri-food universities in the world, and at the Royal Agricultural University of Cirencester.
Keith Jones
Head of HR, Fresh Hub Holdings
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BIO
Keith has worked in the HR field for the past 40 years, and has held a number of senior positions in both the public and private sectors. For the last 10 years Keith has worked at Parallel UK/Fresh Hub Holdings, looking after all things HR. Keith works with the Senior Leadership Team to grow and develop the business.
Lewis George
Horticultural Engagement Officer, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Wisley
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BIO
Lewis is the Horticultural Engagement Officer at RHS Wisley. He is the South East lead on the New Shoots initiative, which is focussed on expanding career opportunities in ornamental horticulture to a more diverse audience of young people. Lewis is a career changer with a professional background of 13 years working in project delivery and stakeholder management for the railway industry; most recently leading the team that delivered the final critical phase of the Crossrail project – Trial Operations. Talk to Lewis about why he chose the horticulture industry, how it is helping to support people and the environment, and how to access work experience, volunteering and skills development opportunities.
Lisa Peter
Horticultural Engagement Manager, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
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BIO
Lisa is the Horticultural Engagement Manager at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). She is leading the RHS careers promotion initiative New Shoots which focuses on showcasing the breadth of careers available in the ornamental horticulture sector. Lisa’s professional background is in public engagement, as well as programme and audience development in the cultural sector, which demonstrates that skills from outside horticulture are also sought after in the industry. Talk to Lisa about finding work experience placements, T-Levels, engaging with professional networks, and identifying transferable skills in your CV.
Richard Meredith
Head of Research, Dyson Farming
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BIO
Richard became Head of Dyson Farming Research in 2022. In this role he is supporting the company’s strategic objective of being a ‘beacon of excellence’ within UK agriculture. Richard grew up on the family farm in South Herefordshire, and graduated with a degree in Business Management from Bristol University. Next he managed agricultural contracting and hire services at 7Y Machinery Ring, before joining the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) from 2012 to 2022, where he was Head of Knowledge Exchange.
Saffy Waterson
Chief Executive Officer, MDS
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BIO
Sapphira joined MDS in May 2005, and holds the position of Chief Executive Officer. Saffy previously worked in welfare and social work. Her career developed from a background as a Probation Officer with the National Probation Service, and Social Work Support Officer with SSAFA, working for the RAF. She was attracted to MDS by its commitment to helping young people to reach their potential. Since becoming CEO, Saffy has been instrumental in doubling the size of the business over the last ten years, whilst tackling issues of diversity and inclusion. In 2022, Saffy supported the launch of two new development schemes to allow MDS to reach a wider talent pool. Saffy strongly believes in giving people an opportunity to find a career in which they can thrive.
Sam Franklin
UK Technical Director, AMFRESH Group
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BIO
Sam graduated from Newcastle University with a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Agricultural Business and Management. Following university, Sam completed a Management Development Services (MDS) graduate placement before specialising as a Food Technologist. Since then, Sam has become a true fruit specialist with end-to-end experience across all aspects of the fresh produce supply chain, including: retail, quality, technical management, and ethical sustainability. He has broad knowledge of all aspects of plant physiology, agronomy, food safety and post-harvest science. Sam also has a specialist interest in the increasing use of science and data to solve problems and engineer solutions to specific industry issues. Currently, Sam is the UK Technical Director at AMFRESH Group
Tony Ganio
Founder & Managing Director, Back to Roots
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BIO
Tony’s experience in the fresh produce industry spans decades. Having worked for various importing companies in the UK, including Total Produce, Wentworth (part of Albert Fisher Group) and Reingold, Tony is particularly adept at highlighting UK market opportunities to European produce exporters. In late 2013, this led to the creation of Back to Roots; a fruit and sport consulting company of which Tony is both the founder and Managing Director. Through Back to Roots, Tony organises and manages fresh fruit and vegetable procurement from Spain and Morocco for a produce import client; and advises a UK soft fruit grower on general management and investment. Prior to establishing his own business, between 1996 and 2013 Tony was the Commercial Director at Total Produce where he managed the retail desks for table grapes and stone fruit, as well as other non-retail desks. Latterly, he also managed the group’s offices in Holland and Spain, which generated sales in excess of £40 million. A keen communicator, Tony has travelled the produce world extensively. Even today he continues to keep up to date with the produce trade’s fast-changing customer base in order to highlight new sales opportunities to his clients.
