Meet the NFU South team

She joined the NFU South West team in January 2002 as a policy adviser, was promoted to senior in 2003 and then to regional director in March 2006, before being appointed director of the South region in April 2023.

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

Jacks previously worked in rural surveying and farm business management.

She lives on a family farm in South Gloucestershire, and has a passion for agriculture, and rural businesses.

Hattie also is the secretary for the new South Uplands Group, supporting uplands farmers in Cornwall, Devon, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Somerset.

She has a master’s degree in Environmental Health, and previously worked within local authorities and environmental protection.

Hattie grew up on a mixed farm outside of Bristol and has always had interest in the environment and food.

Izzy has a particular interest in sustainable agriculture and soil health, and holds a BASIS certificate in soil and water management.

She has always been involved in farming, helping out in the summers with corn carting on the family farm in Hampshire.

Izzy has an MSc from UCL in Environment, Politics and Society, focused on agri-environment policy, and a BSc from Exeter University in Geography with Biology with a focus on land management through agri-environment schemes.

A former journalist, he worked on regional daily newspaper the Western Morning News and spent nine years as a reporter and producer at ITV Westcountry, before moving into public relations.

David joined the NFU in 2011 as assistant regional public relations officer, before becoming regional public relations officer and then taking on the membership communications role.

Her role is to ensure members in the region continue to have a strong voice in the media.

After studying at the University of the West of England, she worked as a journalist for almost a decade, writing for a huge variety of publications.

Before joining the NFU, Charlotte was an editor for local online news publications across the South West.

Alongside this, he was the agent for the Thames Valley Police and Crime commissioner, working on the political side of campaigns and policy.

Nathan’s agricultural career began on local farms in the Vale of White Horse, when he also attended Oxford Brookes studying politics and international relations, before moving into agricultural engineering.

He has also been a district councillor and leader of the opposition on the Vale of White Horse district council.

Before working for the NFU, Fiona was an officer in the British Army Educational and Training Services. Fiona lives on a beef and arable farm in North Devon.

He started his career in the British Army, working his way up to Captain, and has also worked as regional director and operations manager at British Eventing.

Chris is looking forward to channelling his passion for farming into this new role and is keen to meet members across the county.

Emily grew up in Buckinghamshire, finding her love for farming through lambing and calving on friend’s farms.

She graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2018 with a BSc (Hons) in Animal Science and then moved to the South West for her role in the NFU.

She previously worked as an agricultural adviser in a specialist firm covering Wales and the border counties.

Katie was an active member of Llysyfran YFC and at all levels of the organisation, finishing as Wales YFC Chair in 2021 and is still involved as a club leader. She completed the Worshipful Company of Farmers; Challenge of Rural Leadership Course in 2022.

Previously, Lindsay managed an equine veterinary laboratory.

Her role includes overseeing, and ensuring, a coordinated administration service to regional staff, as well as the NFU's boards and committees.

Prior to graduating from Hartpury University in 2022 with a BSc in Equestrian Sports Science, Molly worked with injured and retired racehorses, rehabilitating and pre-training them to return to racing or retraining them for secondary ridden careers.

She has also worked across several other equestrian sectors, ranging from elite level eventing to stud and reproductive work.