NEWS RELEASE
Agriculture and
Horticulture Development Board
22 July 2008
NEW CHAIR FOR POTATO
COUNCIL
The appointment of a
new chairman to the Potato Council is an important step forward for the
industry in these times of change. Allan Stevenson, who takes office
from 21 July 2008, also becomes a main Board Director of Agriculture and
Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Allan Stevenson is a
director of his own arable farming company which specialises in high
quality pre-pack potatoes; he is a qualified chartered accountant and
has a wealth of commercial management and corporate governance
experience.
Dennis Heywood,
who has been acting as the interim chairman, has stepped down and
resumes his duties as an independent board member of the Potato Council.
AHDB Chairman John Bridge said: "I am delighted to have someone of
Allan's calibre joining the AHDB and Potato Council Boards. We are going
through a period of massive change as we build a new more efficient levy
board structure and I look forward to his contribution to this process.
"I thank Dennis
Heywood for his tremendous work since February when he agreed to
temporarily step in as interim chairman of the Potato Council."
Potato Council Chief
Executive Helen Priestley said: "The British potato sector is under
threat from EU competition. It faces significant challenges such as the
reduction in available pesticides and managing soil and water issues. It
also must promote the positive nutrition profile of potatoes and fight
against rice and pasta for its place in young people's diets.
"My team and I look
forward to working with Allan in shaping the strategies to best deploy
levy funds to meet these challenges".
Bio of Allan Stevenson
Allan Stevenson was
born into a farming family and spent his early years as a student on the
farm before moving into the world of business and finance. He has
a Business degree from Edinburgh University and is a qualified Chartered
Accountant whose early career involved a number of positions as
Marketing Director, Commercial Director and Managing Director for
various food service, engineering and manufacturing companies. Allan
then became Group Finance Director, at EC Harris Group, a global
consultancy firm in real estate capital projects. In 2005 he
became a Non-Executive Director at Cobra UK (Holdings), a satellite and
home automation technologies company and up until 2008 he was
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at DEGW
Plc, an international workspace design consultancy.
Allan has several
current positions, primarily as Director of his own arable farming
company, Luffness Mains, in East Lothian, which he has been involved in
for over 23 years. The company specialises in high quality
pre-pack potatoes for Tesco, and was awarded the Tesco\Greenvale
Scottish Potato Grower of the year in 2007. It is a LEAF Marque
accredited farm. Allan is also a Governing Board member of the Scottish
Crop Research Institute, chairing the Audit Committee, and a
Non-Executive Director at the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent
Institution and Chairman of the E C Harris Group Pension Scheme.
Appointment process
The recruitment
process followed the rules for public appointments. The panel included
AHDB Chairman John Bridge and an assessor from the Office of the
Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). The appointment was made by
Ministers in Defra, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly
Government and is for a period of four years.
The
Potato Council
The Potato Council
Works towards making the British potato industry more competitive and
helps stimulate use of the GB potato crop in home and export markets. It
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Agriculture and Horticulture
Development Board. For further information visit
www.potato.org.uk
AHDB
The Agriculture and
Horticulture Development Board became operational on 1 April 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 - meat and livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) in
England; commercial horticulture, milk and potatoes in Great Britain;
cereals and oilseeds in the UK. Levies raised from each sector can only
be used to the benefit of that specific sector, and the responsibility
for setting and delivering the strategies to deploy the levy income is
delegated to the boards of its six sector organisations: BPEX, DairyCo,
EBLEX, Horticultural Development Company, HGCA and the Potato Council.
For further information visit
www.ahdb.org.uk
For
further information contact:
Guy Attenborough,
AHDB, tel: +44 7887 896089
Kathryn Race, Potato
Council, tel: + 44 1865 782256