For the past 18 months, new Guild member Robin Limb has been editor of British Sugar Beet Review, the quarterly magazine from that provides technical information and news to Britain’s sugar beet growers.
“I’ve been a regular contributor since 2001 and first came across the publication in the faculty library at Newcastle University,” he says. “It’s a real honour to be picking up the baton 30 years on.”
Robin began his career with British Sugar in 1982, leaving the family farm in Nottinghamshire for what was meant to be a short interlude before returning to pick up the reins of the business. In the event, that never happened and instead Robin says he has enjoyed a rich and varied career based in many locations across East Anglia.
His current roles, in addition to editing Beet Review, include overseeing operations as central agricultural manager at the head office in Peterborough and heading the Holmewood Hall conferencing centre near Yaxley. He also finds time to be a director of the British Beet Research Organisation.
Robin still maintains strong links with Newcastle University’s agriculture faculty – British Sugar has employed many graduate trainees from Newcastle over the years – and in his spare time enjoys, cycling, swimming and walking, primarily in his adopted county of Norfolk, which is home to around one-third of the UK beet crop, he points out.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is the sheer number of farmers I have met and the farming enterprises I have seen over the years,” Robin says. “British Sugar Beet Review enjoys a strong following within the industry among growers and advisers alike; I enjoy my role as editor and it’s an honour to uphold the tradition of this long-running publication, which can trace its roots back to the early 1930’s.”
