Dr David Llewellyn CBE FRAgS FIAgrE
David’s career was in the higher education sector, the last 23 years in senior roles at Harper Adams University. He was the institution’s Principal, from 2009 to 2012, and then, when Harper Adams received university title, its first Vice-Chancellor, from 2012 until his retirement in 2021. From 2018 to 2021 he was Chair of GuildHE, one of the two higher education national representative bodies.
He is Chair of the Lantra Board, Patron of the Douglas Bomford Trust and he was a member of the Expert Panel for the recent Independent Review of Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain. David is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and a Fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers, and was the recipient of the 2022 IAgrE Award for Contribution to the Land Based Sector.
In 2022, David was also awarded a CBE for services to Higher Education, the Agri-Food Chain and Rural Industries.
James Withers
James Withers is the former Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink and NFU Scotland.
He now runs his own business providing advisory services to government, industry organisations and commercial businesses.
In 11 years as CEO at Scotland Food & Drink (SF&D), James co-ordinated an industry and government collaboration to drive forward a growth strategy for the £15 billion Scottish food and drink sector.
James has also sat on the Scottish Government’s national resilience group, the National Trade Board and co-chaired, with the Cabinet Secretary, the Food Security Taskforce.
In 2022, James was appointed as a GlobalScot and he has a number of non-executive director roles, including being on the boards of the Scottish Tourism Alliance and Abbey Group, working to grow the UK and Irish tourism industries.
In 2022, James was appointed by Scottish Ministers to lead an independent review of Scotland’s £3.5 billion skills system. He presented proposals for reform in 2023 which have been accepted by Scottish Government with new legislation now in train.
James is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS).
Katrina Williams
Katrina Williams had a long career in the Civil Service in policy making and the shaping and implementation of legislation: a large part of her career was spent in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and in Defra.
From 2008-2013 she was Director-General Food and Farming at Defra and her last role in the Civil Service – until 2023 – was as the Director-General leading all Defra’s international work.
Her career had a strong international and EU component – from 2017-2020 Katrina was the UK’s Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU. Katrina now advises companies on influencing the EU, and trains people in international negotiations.
Mark Suthern
Mark is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Fellow of IAGRM, Associate of Royal Agricultural Societies and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Mark previously worked for Barclays Plc for 35 years and was Managing Director & National Head of Agriculture focused on Farming, Landed Estates, Agri-Tech and Sustainability Energy & Environment and now has a portfolio of roles: –
- Chair and Trustee of Farming Community Network (FCN)
- Non-Executive member of the Rural Payments Agency Advisory Management Board and Audit & Risk Assurance Committee
- Non-Executive Director at the Environment Agency (sitting on the following boards – Environment & Business, Flood and Coastal Risk Management and Audit & Risk Assurance Committee
- Member of DEFRA Farming Innovation Programme Strategy Group
- Chair and external Advisor of FixOurFood – (University of York)
- Trustee and Vice Chair of the Institute of Agricultural Management
- Co-Chaired – Green Finance Institute – Finance for Farming Report
- Organiser – St Georges House Windsor Castle – Farming Consultations
- Lay-Canon and Vice Chair of the Chapter at Lincoln Cathedral