Speakers revealed for key poultry conference

The theme of this year’s Egg and Poultry Industry Conference is Growing in a Challenging Environment. FWi offers a preview

Recent months have seen the UK economy suffer the worst downturn since World War II and businesses are having to adapt to survive.

The poultry industry is no stranger to challenging trading environments. Through the major recessions of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s the sector continued to adapt and change in response to the huge challenges the market threw at it.

History has shown that successful poultry farmers and businesses are those that embrace the changing business and economic environment, and adapt to meet the new realities of the market place. The eight speakers at this year’s event will explore these issues. Headlining the event is DEFRA minister Jim Fitzpatrick.

Speaker spotlight

Martin Redfearn

After 18 years with the three leading farm business consultancy firms in the UK private sector, Mr Redfearn joined Barclays Bank as the regional agricultural specialist for East Anglia in 1995. His geographical responsibilities have increased over the years and he is now Barclays national agricultural specialist.

He advises the bank on strategic issues in the agricultural industry as a whole, as well as in individual cases of existing or proposed business which require specialist input.

Teresa Wickham

Teresa Wickham has more than 30 years experience in the UK food supply chain from small businesses through to FTSE 100 companies and she is a partner with her husband on a fruit farm.

She co-founded the Women’s Farming Union, which ran its successful campaign to revitalise the UK fruit industry. She was the first woman director of Safeway Stores, where she developed the Strathclyde Food Project, which brought together farmers, growers, manufacturers and retailers to close the UK’s trade gap.

She has been a governor of the Royal Agricultural College, chairman of the Oxford Farming Conference and is currently chief executive of TWA, the strategic business and development consultancy which advises chairmen and CEOs of major companies.

Sean Rickard

Sean Rickard is senior lecturer in business economics at Cranfield University being a specialist in the economics and politics of food and farming.

Prior to joining Cranfield, he was for eight years chief economist with the NFU and head of its Economics and Policies Group. After leaving the NFU, Mr Rickard was invited by the minister of agriculture to join his “Think Tank” on future European agricultural and rural policy. He is currently one of a small number of economists serving on the government’s Panel of Academic Economists.

More recently he has worked on the issues of food inflation and the challenges raised by population growth, development and climate change for the world’s ability to meet its food needs.

Matt Pullen

Matt Pullen is the marketing director at Bernard Matthews Farms. He was brought up in Stockport and then Guildford, and he went on to gain a degree in geography at the University of Southampton. Since then, Mr Pullen has worked in the food sector, having previously worked for Kraft Foods and Rank Hovis McDougall.

Also speaking at the meeting is Peter Thornton, chief executive of Noble Foods. Prior to Noble Foods, Mr Thornton was previously with Dairy Crest, where he oversaw the successful launch of the Cathedral City brand of Cheddar cheese.