Who's who at the NFU

The home farm is based around arable production but has also diversified into equestrian and renewables.

Tom has represented the NFU from Local Branch Chairman through to Chair of the National Combinable Crops Board.

Tom was elected to the position of NFU President in February 2024.

Responsibilities

• Animal health and welfare incl. bTB
• Trade and standards
• Climate, energy and net zero
• Food supply chain (fair dealing, mergers and acquisitions, competition, regulation)
• Animal ID and movements
• Assurance review
• Taxation and fiscal policy
• Immigration

David farms south of Horsham in West Sussex with his wife and two sons over 1200 tenanted hectares in the heart of the Sussex Weald.

Starting in 1989 with 70ha the business now has arable, dairy beef, Sussex suckler herd and sheep enterprises. In 2003 the Farm Shop opened and sells a wide range of food from the Victorian stable yard at Westons.

He has served previously within the NFU as Branch Chair, West Sussex Council Delegate, South East Regional Chair as well as four years on Governance Board.

David was elected to the position of NFU Deputy President in February 2024.

Responsibilities

• EU and international relations
• Banking
• Biodiversity
• Food labelling
• Food safety
• Food service and hospitality
• Agricultural transition (productivity, ELMs, stability)
• Plant health
• Assurance schemes
• British Agriculture Bureau
• Health, safety and wellbeing
• Agricultural transport
• Uplands
• Tenants

In the last 20 years the farm has evolved from a milk producer/retailer unit, to a farm that focusses on their beef herd, hill sheep and environmental outcomes. They have also diversified with a holiday let and contracting business.

The business has grown through their ability to change and also by collaborating with their landlord on water management, heather regeneration and hay meadow restoration. Rachel takes an honest approach and has an open mind-set. 

Rachel was elected to the position of NFU Vice President in February 2024.

• Workforce skills and training
• Education
• Science and research and development
• Regulation review and enforcement
• Planning, housing and rural development
• Agriculture supply relations
• Infrastructure (HS2, roads etc)
• Rural broadband and mobile communications
• Rural crime
• Water and air issues
• Organics
• Member development
• Member engagement

Aled has previously held a variety of positions across the industry, including holding the post of Chairman of milk recording company Cattle Information Services (CIS) for seven years and being a trustee of Holstein UK for eight years.

The farm is home to milking cows, sheep, beef cattle and around 120 acres of arable.  Abi is a co-founder of Cows on Tour, an Open Farm Sunday host and a former NFU Cymru Wales Woman Farmer of the Year. In 2019 she was honoured by the Queen with an MBE for her services to agriculture.

Leaving FDF at the end of 2014, he took up the post of DG at the Provision Trade Federation (PTF) looking after the interests of businesses involved in the UK bacon and dairy trade.

Before working at FDF and PTF Terry worked for the NFU from 2002-2011 in a variety of roles including Head of Government Affairs, Head of Food Chain and Director of Communications.

Terry lives in Cheshire with his wife Emma and their two daughters.

Originally from Llandovery, where his family are livestock farmers, John Mercer has worked his way up through the ranks of the NFU over recent years.

He started with NFU Cymru in 2004 as a Farm Policy Adviser before moving to NFU Headquarters to take up a senior policy adviser position he then went on to become the NFU Regional Director in the West Midlands before returning to his roots in Wales.

Catherine leads a dedicated team of HR professionals that partner with the NFU and its subsidiaries to attract, develop and engage great people to deliver positive outcomes for the NFU and its members.

Her career started on the graduate scheme at Tesco, and after working as a store manager and learning that people are the heartbeat of any organisation, she decided to pursue a career in HR. She worked for a wide variety of organisations, from the NHS to SMEs to privately owned businesses before joining the NFU in 2015. She became Director of People in April 2023.

Outside of work Catherine enjoys spending time with her family and friends in Warwickshire. Her real love is open water swimming, and although she’s based in the very centre of England she will find any excuse to head to the coast for a swim.

He made the move to communications, joining The Ministry of Defence, where he was Director of News for the department and Press Secretary to two Secretaries of State. He joined the private sector in senior communications and government relations roles in-house, and as an agency director.

James joins the NFU from Toyota GB PLC, where he was Head of Press and Public Affairs for the Toyota, Lexus and Kinto brands.

Originally from the New Forest, James lives with his family in a village in Oxfordshire where he enjoys rural pursuits as well as taking old cars apart and wondering why they won’t go back together again.

He joined the NFU headquarters in January 1993 from Hertfordshire County Council and has filled a variety of roles including Chief Environment Adviser and, prior to his current role, Head of Policy Services.

Andrew lives with his family in Worcestershire where he grew up on a hop and fruit farm. He has a PhD in Environment Science from the University of East Anglia and is a Chartered Landscape Architect.

She graduated in Agriculture from Seale-Hayne faculty, University of Plymouth. Prior to this, she was an agriculture student at Duchy College, Cornwall.

She undertook the Worshipful Company of Farmers’ Challenge of Rural Leadership course in 2005, became a Liveryman and is a Windsor Leadership alumnus (2022).

Mel was a non-executive director on the Heart of the South West LEP Board 2016-23 (Devon and Somerset), a longstanding CBI Council member, and is a Leadership fellow for the University of University.

She led the IDE (Inclusion, Diversity and Equality) work of the NFU from 2020-2023 and currently chairs the Great South West’s pan-regional partnership programme board for Food Security.

In June of 2008, Mel was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to Gloucestershire’s rural community and for animal welfare efforts during the flooding of July 2007.

She was awarded the ARAgS (Associateship of Royal Agricultural Societies) for her distinguished achievement in the agricultural industry in 2015 and subsequently awarded a FRAgS (Fellowship) in 2020.

She is a Council member for the DCAA (Devon County Agricultural Society) and The Royal Bath and West of England Society.

Mel was promoted to the NFU’s Executive Leadership Team as Director of regions & membership in December 2024.

Mel is passionate about all things farming, food, rural life, and the countryside; privileged to work with a fantastic team and farmers, representing their interests and campaigning on their behalf.  She is a keen walker, a lover of country pursuits and a very proud mum.

Since then he has held senior financial posts in several commercial sectors, including leasing and television.

He joined the NFU on New Year's Day 2002 and is responsible for finance, corporate taxation, HR, property and investments, compliance, NFU CallFirst, the Legal Assistance Scheme and other business services.

Ken is also Secretary of the NFU as well as a director of NFU Energy and the NFU Staff Pension Scheme Trust Company.

Tamsin joined the NFU as Assistant Secretary in 2010, was appointed Head of Compliance in 2011 and Secretary in June 2023.

In her role as Secretary, Tamsin is responsible for advising on Corporate Governance and ensuring the NFU Constitution and Rules are observed and kept up to date. In addition to that, Tamsin manages the Compliance Department, which is responsible for legal compliance, insurance, risk management as well as the NFU's Quality Management System and Business Continuity Plan.

Tamsin also oversees the management of the NFU’s property portfolio, is Secretary to Council, the Governance Board, the Audit and Remuneration Committee, NFU Staff Pension Trust Company Limited, NFU Commercial Holdings Limited and is a Director of NFU Energy Limited.

Prior to joining the NFU Tamsin gained considerable experience working at board level in London and Warwickshire in a number of industries ranging from private equity to environmental compliance.

Originally from a small rural village in Yorkshire, Tamsin lives with her family in Warwickshire. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking for family and friends, gardening and holidaying on the North Norfolk Coast.

He previously served as Chief Executive of the Crop Protection Association (CPA) from January 2013 to December 2016, representing the UK plant science industry and promoting the development and manufacture of a wide range of plant science technologies including synthetic and bio pesticides, seed and plant breeding and agricultural biotechnology.

Nick has enjoyed a varied career both within and outside agriculture. Prior to the CPA, Nick was Head of Government Affairs at the NFU, responsible for managing the organisation’s political relations and heading up its London office.

He worked for a London-based public affairs agency for many years, advising companies and organisations across a wide range of sectors on media and political relations. He also trained as a lawyer, being called to the Bar in 2007. He lives with his wife and two children on the family’s arable farm in East Hertfordshire, which is managed in partnership with two neighbouring farm businesses.

She brings to the NFU a strong background in commercial finance and business change management in growing businesses, an inspiring leadership style, experience of integrating acquisitions and strategic financial planning expertise.

Prior to joining the NFU, she was Finance Director at Mattioli Woods plc, a leading UK listed financial services business, where she led the finance team through significant change as the business expanded rapidly. Having joined in 2013, her role developed quickly after playing a key leading role in the IPO of Custodian REIT plc. During her almost seven-year tenure she steered many strategic developments across finance, HR, IT, operations, risk and compliance, including a £14m investment in building a new office.

She qualified as a chartered accountant in 2009 in practice, where she developed a diverse range of experience across finance specialisms and industry sectors, including agriculture and investment property. She joined the practice in 2006, following a short period as a business analyst at Caterpillar Logistics Services (now Neovia Logistics) after graduating from De Montfort University with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2005. 

Outside of work Farah enjoys playing tennis, travelling and family walks in the countryside with her husband and two sons.