Former Tesco agriculture director Tom Hind has joined the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) as chief strategy officer.
The move is one of three senior operational appointments that complete the newly restructured six-strong leadership team at the AHDB.
Hind, who also has more than 15 years of experience working for the NFU in roles including director of corporate affairs, will be responsible for leading on strategic planning, overseeing the relationship management with AHDB’s six sector advisory boards, and for developing AHDB’s Market Intelligence offering. His appointment is effective from 5 October 2015.
Richard Laverick will be the chief technical officer, leading all the R&D and knowledge exchange work undertaken for the dairy, pork, beef and lamb, horticulture, potato and cereals and oilseeds sectors. His appointment is also effective from 5 October 2015.
And Christine Watts has been appointed as chief communications and market development officer in an attempt to lead a more joined-up approach on AHDB’s export and domestic market development work, and to try and bring in a step-change around making AHDB’s advice and information more accessible both via digital and more traditional channels. Her start date is still to be confirmed.
Jane King, AHDB chief executive, said: “I am delighted to welcome Tom, Richard and Christine. Together they bring a wealth of leadership experience and skills to our new top team, and will work with our staff to create a step change in AHDB activity. Our focus is firmly on delivering value for money, avoiding duplication and working smarter – taking us towards becoming a centre of agricultural excellence for our levy payers.”
The AHDB leadership team consists of the chief executive, chief strategy officer, chief technical officer, chief communications and market development officer, chief finance officer and the chief HR officer. The latter two are already in post – Chis Goodwin and Rebecca Geraghty, respectively.
AHDB is a UK-wide non-departmental public body sponsored by Defra and primarily funded by farmers, growers and others in the supply chain through statutory levies. It was established in 2008.
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