John Evans, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers and a Freeman of the City of London, has become a Friend of the Guild. He is editor of the Company’s twice yearly newsletter and also editor of its website.
“Being a Welshman, I view English as my adopted language,” he quips.
After working for two major corporations – as chief executive of Ansafone Corporation, managing director of Exxon Enterprise operations in Europe, and a non-executive director of a major digital printing supplier – his career took him into the field of knowledge transfer within agriculture.
“In 1998, I took on the job of managing the DEFRA-funded Farm Business Advice Service in Sussex and eventually took over responsibility for running the service across the South East Region,” he recalls. “The primary objective was to help farmers become more business oriented and embrace suitable forms of diversification. More than 3000 farms were helped across the region, with more than 1000 of them in Sussex.”
John also managed a two-year programme of workshops in the region, which discussed topics including climate change, renewable energy options, bio-fuels and diversification, and he represented the Business Links organisations on the steering group of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) grant programme.
“I’m currently a board member of the three RDPE Local Action Groups in Sussex and as a founding director of Southern Milk, which was a Lewes-based co-operative of 65 dairy farmers, I’ve worked to achieve best farmgate prices from milk processors,” he adds.
Rugby is clearly an interest; he was a referee in the game for 27 years.
Note: Contact details for all new Members and Friends of the Guild can be found by using the website search facility to locate records in the eAlert Archive.
