Corporate Team
Sir Ben Gill
Non-Executive Chairman
Sir Ben Gill, CBE MA (Cantab), is a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Having started his career as a farmer he first became involved with the National Farmers Union in the early 80s and was elected its President in 1998. During his 6 years in office he had major issues to deal with such as Foot and Mouth Disease and BSE as well as the renegotiation of CAP. He was also appointed President of the Confederation of European Agriculture from 2000 - 2004 which saw the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 countries; and global influence as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Body: International Federation of Agricultural Producers.
Sir Ben retired from NFU in 2004 and has since established his own business Hawkhills Consultancy Ltd which specialises in advising agrifood businesses on food and farming and also into renewable energy where he has a particular interest and expertise in the use of biomass. In 2005, Ben chaired the Government's Biomass Task Force which produced a comprehensive set of recommendations (which have been largely adopted by the Government) to improve the uptake of biomass as a renewable energy source.
Ken Brooks
Executive Deputy Chairman
After graduating from Keble College with a first-class honours degree in Modern History, Ken attended Guildford Law School before becoming a commercial partner at Linnells in Oxford. As a founder of Brookstreet des Roches, a specialist commercial law practice, he is now a commercial legal consultant. He has extensive commercial and management experience, and a strong track record in deal brokerage and mergers. He is a director of several other companies covering fields such as business consultancy, manufacturing, property, plastic merchanting, recycling and licensing.
Clive Newitt
Managing Director
Clive joined the Board in September 2007 and was previously a Non-Executive Director of Eden Research Europe Limited.
Clive has over 30 years of experience in the agrochemical business. He is a former Chairman of the British Agrochemicals Association (BAA) public relations committee, a role in which he served between 1997 and 1999. He is Managing Director of Agri-Nova Technology Ltd, which is an agricultural consultancy business specialising in marketing and commercial development for clients in that field.
Alex Abrey
Chief Financial Officer
Alex joined the Board in September 2007 and is a Chartered Certified Accountant with a BSc in Applied Accounting. Alex has twelve years experience in practice and industry, including being Chief Accountant to Eden from 2004 to 2007. He works closely with a number of larger accountancy firms both in the UK and abroad.
Alex has also been financial director to a number of other businesses involved in activities such as IP licensing, waste recycling and business advisory.
Robin Sims
Company Secretary
Robin is a qualified Chartered Secretary with over 25 years of experience working in company secretarial roles in public and private companies. Since 1997, he has specialised in corporate consultancy activities involved in turnaround management, fund management, flotations, and the acquisition and sale of businesses.
He is also Company Secretary of Environmental Recycling Technologies plc and is actively involved with a number of private companies in an advisory role.