Angus Davison
Eccentric Chairman, HaygroveAngus is ‘Eccentric Chairman’ of Haygrove. He is a fourth-generation farmer raised in Herefordshire. Grateful to have been born into mixed farming he found himself attracted to the berry industry for long holidays seemingly possible.
To this aim he planted 1 ha of strawberries in 1988 as his Agriculture degree thesis and founded Haygrove. Failing totally in the original aim, Haygrove now farms >600ha of berries, cherries and organics in the UK, South Africa, Portugal and China.
In the early 90’s, frustrated by crop loss to weather, Angus began using polytunnels, which he enjoyed testing and improving on Haygrove Farm. By the mid-90s British retailers observed the
advantages of the tunnels and encouraged wide uptake in the UK, prompting Haygrove to manufacture.
Haygrove Growing Systems now supply tunnels and growing systems within them to 60+ countries worldwide, from Chile to Canada, Australia, India, Africa, the Middle East, even to Hawaii, creating a fascinating cultural and geographic exposure to leading growers of high value crops around the world; their business environment, challenges and thinking.
Haygrove’s model is “For Growers, By Growers”, integrating growing with technical innovation. It measures itself monthly across a Triple Bottom Line of Planet, People and Profit. It has been carbon neutral since 2020 and has won a series of awards over 20 years for not-for-profit activities. Angus was awarded an MBE for services to UK horticulture in 2004.