AIC directors profit from compulsory Red Tractor

snipe

Member
Location
west yorkshire
This bit of homework was done by a fellow forum member, well done that man.

wasn't sure if anyone had done any digging into the ownership and stakeholders of the AIC, so I had a little look on companies house and I'm pretty horrified by what I found.

AIC is similar to RT in that it is a Ltd company without shareholders and acts as the holding company for AIC services Ltd that operates the assurance schemes and membership. AIC has 14 directors which change regularly so I assume are elected positions. AIC services has 6 directors, which change less often so I assume are permanent management positions. Some have positions on both boards, I assume this is for supervision by the holding company.

What has shocked me the most is the breadth of our supply chain that the AIC has its tentacles in via directorships. I guess it's no surprise really that Fert suppliers, chemical suppliers, feed mills, etc would be among them, but also what I thought were farmer co-ops and the BSPB.

I have listed below the directors of both the AIC companies and each directors affiliation through either shared directorships or implied by correspondence address.

Agricultural Industries Confederation Ltd. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00316783/officers

SHEASBY, Robert Charles

Secretary of AIC and AIC services.

BARRON, Robin Mcintyre Scott

General manager AIC

BELL, Samantha Emma

Commercial director AIC.
Head of sales and marketing AIC services
CF fertilisers given as correspondence address on AIC services listing.

BILLINGTON, Declan George

Holds a total of 21 directorships, mostly in NI covering a range of animal feed and agricultural production. Also a couple of other trade associations.
https://find-and-update.company-inf...cers/Anc_NNbvViiJYYg7SRXItN9b1yg/appointments

BOOTH, Angela Margaret

Correspondence address implies a link to AB Agri - British Sugar, Trident feeds, ABN.

CHRISTENSEN, Simon Paul

Directorships with Fengrain, Southampton Grain terminal and Hemswell Farmers.
Correspondence address given as Frontier Agriculture Ltd.

CLAYTON, Christopher

Directorships with Sentry and Agronomy Connection
Correspondence address given as Agrovista UK

DALTON, Matthew John

Among others, a directorship with JE & VM Dalton Ltd - Dalmark

GUEST, Christopher Michael

Correspondence address given as Gleadell Agriculture

MAJOR, Nicholas Charles

Directorships with CIELivestock and ForFarmers UK

MCSHANE, Andrew

Directorships with Hutchinsons, Chemical and Agricultural Services and Cropstar Ltd (c/o Procam UK)

NEWBY, Andrew David

Directorships with KWS, Twyford Seeds, CPB Twyford, Huntseeds and The BSPB.

RICHARDSON, Andrew Mark

Directorships with the William Thompson Group (Thompson Feeds, Jubilee Milling)

WORRELL, Mark John

Directorships with Openfield and Hemswell Farmers



Agricultural Industries Confederation Services Ltd. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04925061


SHEASBY, Robert Charles

Secretary of AIC and AIC services.

BATTLE, Charles Richard

Directorship with FG Battle and Sons (Farmers? near Lincoln?)

BELL, Samantha Emma

Commercial director AIC.
Head of sales and marketing AIC services
CF fertilisers given as correspondence address on AIC services listing.

KELLEY, John Michael Walton

Directorship with the Trade Association Forum (what the hell could that be?)

RICHARDSON, Andrew James

Correspondence address implies a link to Volac

RYLAND, Mark John

Directorships with MDM driver training and Mark Ryland Associates.
 

snipe

Member
Location
west yorkshire
AIC force mills to only accept Red tractor assured wheat. Non assured is sold at a discounted price. Where does non assured end up, on the same heap magically assured.
if red tractor was optional for the farmer then all the merchants would need to pay a premium to farmers to encourage them to join the scheme
making i mandatory keeps the price down
 
Last edited:

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Its a play on words I'm afraid, this 'premium ' that redtractor claim, ...well as above its actually just an extra cost .to the primary producer ..a percentage reduction in the normal market price ,which is guided by World price anyway.
Its a ridiculous farce to say the very least, helped along / the status quo maintained....up to now by the subsidy farming gets.
Its all quite depressing really .
 

traineefarmer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Mid Norfolk
The AIC is on the surface a trade body representing the agricultural supply chain. Fert traders, chem suppliers, grain merchants and mills among others. Nothing wrong with that.

The problem for farmers and producers is that it also controls and administrates the entire quality assurance chain from our basic inputs to our end markets and our production in between. By exerting control over farm assured producers they effectively dictate where and from whom we can purchase seed, stock, feed, fertiliser, chemicals, etc., and then dictating where we can sell our end products to.

There's lots of disquiet at the moment over Red Tractor, the ADHB and NFU and their part in us sleepwalking into this situation, but it is the AIC that sets the standards that RT farms must meet and it is the AIC that allows grain and other products without any chain of assurance to be imported, traded and used by its members to devalue our produce.

This list is to expose the people working against us. Do you trade with them? Do you know them? Do any of them have influence in our Non Union?

Difficult questions need to be asked!
 

Grass And Grain

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Yorks
So some of those people work for feed mills.

Let's think about this.

AIC make it more onerous for UK farmers to access feed mill markets vs imports (no farm level assurance required for imports).

These feed mill people, also directors at AIC, so through AIC - put extra supply constraints and costs on their UK suppliers. I'm a farmer member at one of those feed mill co-ops. Do they expect farmers to do business with them when they treat us like that.

I wonder how these feed mills feel about this situation. Are they going to stand by and potentially alienate their customers?

If I were them, I'd be having a word with AIC, ask what they're doing, and ask for change.

A mill could lose a lot of farmer customers very quickly. And it could be farmer owned, which would be a disaster.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,289
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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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