Graham Wilkinson to join AHDB as new CEO

[TFF]

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has today announced the appointment of Graham Wilkinson as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Graham brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success from his time at Arla Foods as Global Vice President, Agriculture. During his extensive time at Arla working in both Global and UK roles, he has successfully supported over 8,500 cooperative farmer owners and managed the delivery of innovative commercial milk concepts on farm.

With his experience and knowledge of the supply chain, Graham created a leading European Agriculture Function within Arla, spanning seven markets. He has also worked in the retailer-side at Tesco PLC, where he strengthened the sustainability of agriculture supply chains in its dairy, beef, pork and poultry sectors.

Having worked throughout the supply chain for his whole career, agriculture has always been part of Graham’s life, working with his grandparents and parents on the family farm in the north east of England. He is a passionate leader and strong advocate of British Food and Farming.

Nicholas Saphir, Chair of AHDB commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Graham to AHDB with his passion for farming, his impressive leadership skills and vast industry knowledge.

“We believe he is the ideal candidate to lead AHDB into the next exciting phase of our growth, putting levy payers at the heart of our work and maximising the impact of the work we do. Thank you to Arla for supporting a smooth transition.”

Reflecting on his appointment, Graham Wilkinson said: “I am excited to join AHDB, an organisation that I have a deep appreciation for and huge respect for its fantastic team.

“My passion is working with farmers, for farmers and with my experience, I see this as a great opportunity to drive greater impact and success for all levy payers to help create a world class food and farming industry.”

Graham Wilkinson is set to leave Arla in the New Year, with the exact timing to be agreed between Arla and AHDB in the coming weeks. He replaces Tim Rycroft, who leaves AHDB in December 2023 after nearly two and a half very successful years.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

He first joined Arla as a farm assurance manager in 2003, before working in a series of agriculture manager positions at the dairy co-op until December 2011.

Wilkinson then moved on to Tesco, where AHDB said he “strengthened the sustainability of agriculture supply chains”, working as agriculture manager for pork and poultry between January 2012 and May 2013, and as agriculture manager for dairy and beef from January 2013 to February 2015.

 

[Chuckie]

He first joined Arla as a farm assurance manager in 2003, before working in a series of agriculture manager positions at the dairy co-op until December 2011.

Wilkinson then moved on to Tesco, where AHDB said he “strengthened the sustainability of agriculture supply chains”, working as agriculture manager for pork and poultry between January 2012 and May 2013, and as agriculture manager for dairy and beef from January 2013 to February 2015.

FFS

 

[Chris F]

He first joined Arla as a farm assurance manager in 2003, before working in a series of agriculture manager positions at the dairy co-op until December 2011.

Wilkinson then moved on to Tesco, where AHDB said he “strengthened the sustainability of agriculture supply chains”, working as agriculture manager for pork and poultry between January 2012 and May 2013, and as agriculture manager for dairy and beef from January 2013 to February 2015.

This is from his LinkedIn profile - was only at Tesco's for 3.5 years as Agriculture Manager. From a family farm background at least.

About​

Farming has always been part of who I am, and from working with my grandparents and parents on the family farm, I pivoted my career into food processing and production for significant multinational establishments where I bring grassroots knowledge to the Board room to not only drive revenue and market strategy but encompass the needs of thousands of dairy, beef, pork and poultry farm facilities/owners/workers to enable shared upsides, exceptional relationships and global supply chain value to consumers.

As a performance-driven leader, I enhance service delivery, strategising and deploying sustainable and commercially viable agricultural and customer concepts whilst overseeing stringent audit controls. I am at the fore of company short- and long-term climate goals, leading the development of innovative business models to realise objectives and ensure the support of senior decision-makers. I am adept at keeping up to date with global legislations and policies that impact the supply chain, and as such, I ensure that I am an active participant in relevant engagements with Governments and NGOs to mitigate risk where possible.

Utilising my exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills, I identify ineffective areas of agricultural operations, understanding functional challenges and creating business cases to support futureproofing through improved management controls, budgets and processes. I have a naturally engaging and transparent communication approach, unafraid to positively challenge and disrupt ways of working to ensure organisational sustainability; also proffering opinions and advice on the implementation of farming practices to ensure global goals.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-wilkinson1/

 

[willyorkshire]

Oh boy. They must all go to the same school of management speak! Even the current PM went there.

 

[gone up the hill]

More of the same i am afraid!

Now needs to be a vote on if the AHDB should be scrapped or not ( certainly needs to be one for the beef and lamb section )

 

[MrNoo]

Ironic, I read the headline and instantly thought to myself it'll be an ex supermarket bod and sure enough it is. Have ADHB not learnt anything over the latest outcry from farmers.
Their arrogance astounds me

 

[delilah]

More of the same i am afraid!

Yup.

https://www.endsreport.com/article/1725233/cut-cow-emissions-slash-ghgs-says-dairy-cooperative

Graham Wilkinson is toast.

 

[bobk]

This is from his LinkedIn profile - was only at Tesco's for 3.5 years as Agriculture Manager. From a family farm background at least.

About​

Farming has always been part of who I am, and from working with my grandparents and parents on the family farm, I pivoted my career into food processing and production for significant multinational establishments where I bring grassroots knowledge to the Board room to not only drive revenue and market strategy but encompass the needs of thousands of dairy, beef, pork and poultry farm facilities/owners/workers to enable shared upsides, exceptional relationships and global supply chain value to consumers.

As a performance-driven leader, I enhance service delivery, strategising and deploying sustainable and commercially viable agricultural and customer concepts whilst overseeing stringent audit controls. I am at the fore of company short- and long-term climate goals, leading the development of innovative business models to realise objectives and ensure the support of senior decision-makers. I am adept at keeping up to date with global legislations and policies that impact the supply chain, and as such, I ensure that I am an active participant in relevant engagements with Governments and NGOs to mitigate risk where possible.

Utilising my exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills, I identify ineffective areas of agricultural operations, understanding functional challenges and creating business cases to support futureproofing through improved management controls, budgets and processes. I have a naturally engaging and transparent communication approach, unafraid to positively challenge and disrupt ways of working to ensure organisational sustainability; also proffering opinions and advice on the implementation of farming practices to ensure global goals.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-wilkinson1/

He's exceptional at blowing smoke up his own arse

 

[le bon paysan]

Bend over, grit your teeth and sorry( not) no Vaseline.

 

[Chris F]

He's exceptional at blowing smoke up his own arse

LinkedIn profiles are very much like that. Often designed to attract recruiters.

Hopefully I’ll get to meet him in due course (as I did Tim Ryecroft) and happy to judge him on what he does at AHDB.

I see the big change for him being that he now represents farmers more than the trade. this being based on who pays the majority of the levy.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Yup.

https://www.endsreport.com/article/1725233/cut-cow-emissions-slash-ghgs-says-dairy-cooperative

Graham Wilkinson is toast.

I can't believe farmers are expected to pay for a bloke who wants to promote the idea that methane emissions from cows and cow feed can somehow equate to of 90% old companys GHG emissions! Its freaking madness

 

[MrNoo]

I see the big change for him being that he now represents farmers more than the trade. this being based on who pays the majority of the levy.

I agree with you but do you really believe this will be the case? Leopard and spots come to mind.

 

[SilliamWhale]

LinkedIn profiles are very much like that. Often designed to attract recruiters.

Hopefully I’ll get to meet him in due course (as I did Tim Ryecroft) and happy to judge him on what he does at AHDB.

I see the big change for him being that he now represents farmers more than the trade. this being based on who pays the majority of the levy.

He will need to learn to pivot again quite quickly then

 

[Andy Nash]

This is from his LinkedIn profile - was only at Tesco's for 3.5 years as Agriculture Manager. From a family farm background at least.

About​

Farming has always been part of who I am, and from working with my grandparents and parents on the family farm, I pivoted my career into food processing and production for significant multinational establishments where I bring grassroots knowledge to the Board room to not only drive revenue and market strategy but encompass the needs of thousands of dairy, beef, pork and poultry farm facilities/owners/workers to enable shared upsides, exceptional relationships and global supply chain value to consumers.

As a performance-driven leader, I enhance service delivery, strategising and deploying sustainable and commercially viable agricultural and customer concepts whilst overseeing stringent audit controls. I am at the fore of company short- and long-term climate goals, leading the development of innovative business models to realise objectives and ensure the support of senior decision-makers. I am adept at keeping up to date with global legislations and policies that impact the supply chain, and as such, I ensure that I am an active participant in relevant engagements with Governments and NGOs to mitigate risk where possible.

Utilising my exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills, I identify ineffective areas of agricultural operations, understanding functional challenges and creating business cases to support futureproofing through improved management controls, budgets and processes. I have a naturally engaging and transparent communication approach, unafraid to positively challenge and disrupt ways of working to ensure organisational sustainability; also proffering opinions and advice on the implementation of farming practices to ensure global goals.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-wilkinson1/

‘I am from a family farming background, but pulling cows’ tits was not for me , no Siree, I realised at an early stage that grass roots farming was b####### so I went into processing and retail where the real money is’.

 

[Grass And Grain]

Cripes.

 

[steveR]

Ironic, I read the headline and instantly thought to myself it'll be an ex supermarket bod and sure enough it is. Have ADHB not learnt anything over the latest outcry from farmers.
Their arrogance astounds me

Hugely disappointing.

BRC will be wetting themselves with laughter!

 

[DaveGrohl]

Yup.

https://www.endsreport.com/article/1725233/cut-cow-emissions-slash-ghgs-says-dairy-cooperative

Graham Wilkinson is toast.

Of the 2,000 farms included in the analysis, Arla says that the farms with the lowest total carbon footprint (< 1.01 kg CO2e per kg of milk) produce milk with on average 16% lower emissions per kilo of milk compared to average farms.

Absolutely stunning analysis. Presumably the report contains other gems like farms with the most cows have more cows than the average? And he hailed this report yes?

 

[Andy Nash]

Hugely disappointing.

BRC will be wetting themselves with laughter!

As well as flicking the’Vs’ and blowing a great big raspberry at the entire farming community.

 

[yellowbelly]

Hopefully I’ll get to meet him in due course (as I did Tim Ryecroft) and happy to judge him on what he does at AHDB.

So having met Tim Rycroft (he obviously wasn't wearing his name badge at the time) would you care to enlighten us as to your opinion of his performance at the AHDB?

I see the big change for him being that he now represents farmers more than the trade. this being based on who pays the majority of the levy.

That'll be a first then.
It didn't seem to influence prevoius incumbents.