The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has put forward proposals for its organisation design and structure.

Following in-depth work by the sector organisation chief executive officers, led by AHDB chief executive Kevin Roberts, proposals for the optimal design of the new organisation were presented to the board on July 7.

The board agreed the following key points:

• AHDB should be one organisation arranged in a divisional structure including a range of centralised activities - finance, IT, levy collection, human resources, market intelligence, business and corporate services, AHDB communications

• The business functions of research and development, knowledge transfer, marketing and stakeholder communication will be managed at sector level

• There will be a single senior executive team headed by the AHDB chief executive

•There will be a chief scientist a senior marketeer recruited to enhance the quality of output and foster better collaboration across those areas.

Roberts said: “I'm delighted that we have a proposal on a workable organisation design for AHDB which combines the strengths of the sector approach with the efficiency benefits which come from greater collaboration and shared central services.

“This paves the way towards delivering the £3.5 million annual cost efficiencies estimated in the original business case. These proposals are now subject to employee consultation before being finalised.”

AHDB chairman John Bridge said: “Our priorities during this financial year are threefold: first, the successful delivery of the sector business plans without undue interruption. Second, to develop and start to populate the operational structure for AHDB and, finally, to put in place the corporate governance policies and procedures to ensure AHDB continues to operate to the high standards set by the former levy boards.

“The relocation process will start this September when the five-strong AHDB transition team moves across into temporary accommodation in Stoneleigh Park and will culminate when we move into our new building in 2010.”

The AHDB became operational on April 1 2008. It is a statutory levy-funded organisation with the duty to help improve the efficiency and competitiveness of various agriculture and horticulture sectors in the UK.

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