Meet the team: Red Tractor Executive team

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  David Clarke

  Chief Executive, AFS

  David Clarke worked in the food service industry for over 20 years after originally graduating as a microbiologist. Most of his early career was in the Forte Group where he was ultimately Technical Director with particular responsibility for supply chain management. Moving on in 1997, he spent a year with the United Kingdom Accreditation Service establishing the principles for accreditation of inspection and certification in the food industry. Much of this work involved certification in assurance schemes and in 1998 he became directly involved in the livestock schemes, becoming chief executive of Assured Food Standards a couple of years later. David has been a member of several industry and governmental advisory bodies and has been a regular contributor to trade publications and other texts.

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  Barry Cox

  Financial Controller, AFS

  Barry Cox joined assured Food Standards as Financial Controller in March 2004. He qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants in 1982, became an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in 1983, and has been a Member of the Chartered Management Institute since 1985. His initial post-qualification experience centred on a number of financial appointments within subsidiaries wholly owned by quoted PLCs in various industrial sectors, with more recent experience in a number of senior roles in privately owned businesses. Barry spent a significant part of his first year at AFS dealing with transitional matters on scheme integration and the provision of financial information to the Board. He is enthusiastic about the prospects for AFS and the future of food assurance in the UK. Barry is married to Jane and has one son who is at senior school.

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  Liz Kerrigan

  Red Tractor Assurance Schemes Secretariat; Crops, Pigs, Poultry, Produce

  A farmer’s daughter and graduate of London University with a BSc in zoology, Liz joined the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) as a graduate trainee. She set up the NFU’s fish farming section and the Salmon and Trout Marketing Association, before going on to work for the United Kingdom Agricultural Supply Trade Association (UKASTA) in 1977. Initially she had responsibility for the organisation and establishment of the British Agrochemical Supply Industry Scheme Ltd (BASIS). She then managed the UKASTA Arable Sector and until 1994 she was Secretary General of UCEPCEE (the European Trade Association representing the interests of distributors of fertilisers and other agrochemicals). Liz was appointed to provide the secretariat services for the Assured Crops, Assured Produce and Assured Chicken Production schemes from their inception in 1997. The Assured British Pigs scheme joined the portfolio in June 2003. All of these schemes have now become integrated in AFS as the Sector Boards for crops, chicken, fresh produce and pigs. Liz provides the administration and management of standards development for all of these commodities and undertakes liaison with stakeholders, certification bodies, scheme members, government departments and the public.

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  Derek Kennedy

  Executive Officer, Red Tractor Assurance for farms Dairy Scheme

  Derek is contracted to Assured Dairy Farms (ADF), formerly the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme (NDFAS), from the Dairy - Select Services team within the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC). In his position as ADF Executive Officer, which he has held since 2003, he manages all the administration and assessor training functions of the scheme on behalf of the ADF Board. His role involves liaison with a wide range of people and bodies including the scheme directors, members (first purchasers), farmers, assessors, certification bodies, Assured Food Standards, other assurance schemes, government departments and the public. From a farming background, Derek has worked in the dairy industry for 21 years. This has included work as a nutritionist and consultant. In his work with one milk purchaser, he had a key role in introducing assurance to the company’s supplying farmers and was a qualified farm assessor. With these perspectives he has seen a lot of progress in assurance in the dairy sector. During this time, he has been involved with the EN45011 accreditation process for the scheme, the integration of dairy farm assurance into Assured Food Standards and the technical and operational development of AFS.

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  Phillipa Wiltshire

  Strategy and Technical Manager and RTA Beef and Lamb Secretariat

  Philippa, a farmer’s daughter from Buckinghamshire, is a graduate in agri-business management from Newcastle University. Her early work experience included being Manager of British Cereal Exports (BCE), the export promotion division of the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA). Prior to joining ABM in 2002 she was Chief Executive of the FABBL Farm Assurance Scheme for four years, responsible for the management of the scheme and recruitment of members. Philippa is married with two young children.