Senior Management
James
Townshend
Executive Chairman
James was appointed Group Chief Executive in 1991 and Chairman in 2013 having first joined the company back in 1978. His responsibilities include corporate governance, strategic leadership and support , product marketing and shareholder relations. The main enterprises on his family farm in Dorset are 2300 cows in milk, an AD plant and an arable enterprise : Velcourt manage the operation. James is a non-executive Director of Grosvenor Farms Ltd and in the recent past has contributed to the industry as a member of the Agri Tech Leadership Council , a Governor of the RAU and as the Prime Minister’s Trade Ambassador for the UK’s food and farming sector
jtownshend@velcourt.co.uk
01935 483539
Andrew
Lawson
Group Finance Director
Andrew joined Velcourt in July 2023 as Group Finance Director. He has significant leadership experience in Supply Chain & Operations, General Management and Finance across FMCG, Industrial & Retail Food, Pharmaceuticals and Agriculture. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and a Chartered Manager. As Group Finance Director, Andrew is responsible for all Finance, Banking, Commercial & Legal Contracts, Integrated Risk Management and Corporate Governance across the Group.
alawson@velcourt.co.uk
07720 162672
Nick
Shorter
Managing Director
Nick joined Velcourt in 2001 and after graduating from the trainee program went on to manage farms in Eastern Europe and East Anglia. He joined the senior management team in 2009 relocating to Hampshire and was appointed to the Velcourt board as Director in 2014 and Managing Director in 2021.
As Managing Director Nick heads up the company’s management team and is responsible for corporate and strategic leadership as well as all areas of operation. In addition he continues to oversee and advise on a number of farming businesses in the south of England.
nshorter@velcourt.co.uk
01747 820230
David
Cousins
Farms Director
North & North East UK
David joined Velcourt as Farms Director in 2019, with thirty years of broad-based farm management, agribusiness consultancy and supply chain experience in the UK and overseas. He has a BSc (Hons) Degree in Agriculture from Newcastle University, a Diploma in Surveying (Rural Practice), is a Nuffield Scholar and Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Management. David and his team of managers run a number of businesses across the region, producing both combinable and root crops and he is also responsible for the central purchasing of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
dcousins@velcourt.co.uk
01780 460010
Jason
Scott
Financial Controller
Jason joined the Velcourt Head Office team in 1996. A Chartered Accountant, he joined the senior management team in 2011 and oversees the provision of financial information to the whole management team, clients and advisers. He is also responsible for Group IT resources.
jscott@velcourt.co.uk
01531 660041
Brian
Redrup
Farms Director
Midlands UK
Brian joined Velcourt in 1978 as a management trainee, becoming Farms Director for the Midlands and the North in 1991. He now oversees farming businesses specialising in combinable crops production, root crops and dairy. He is also responsible for international farm management in Eastern Europe and Africa, Velcourt’s agronomy services, procurement of vehicles, non-food cropping and added-value contracts.
bredrup@velcourt.co.uk
01780 460010
Robbie
Taylor
Farms Director
Livestock UK
Robbie joined Velcourt in 1992 and spent more than a decade managing large dairy businesses in the South West. He was appointed Senior Livestock Manager in 2002 followed by Farms Director in 2004. Robbie specialises in milk and livestock production and dairy farm management systems, oversees seven farming businesses and is responsible for international livestock consultancy, livestock technical and nutrition, produce marketing and central purchasing for livestock.
rtaylor@velcourt.co.uk
01935 482211
Matt
Gregory
Regional Manager East Anglia
Matt joined Velcourt in 1994 after graduating from Aberystwyth University and joined our Management Training Scheme in 1996. In 1998 he took on his first management role concentrating on potato, onion, sugar beet and combinable crop production. As well as retaining direct management responsibilities, Matt now oversees several farming businesses in Suffolk, providing sustainable, safe and profitable farm management solutions.
mgregory@velcourt.co.uk
01394 450636
Charlie
Batten
Regional Manager South East
After graduating from Newcastle University, Charlie joined Velcourt in 2009 as a trainee farm manager. Having completed the management training scheme, he became assistant farm manager on a large root crop business, and then went on to manage an 800 hectare farm in Suffolk. Charlie now directly manages a 2700 hectare contract farming business in Hampshire, consisting of 12 farms, and oversees a number of other Velcourt farms in the South East of England. He also jointly manages central machinery relationships for the company.
cbatten@velcourt.co.uk
07779 681359
Jack
White
Regional Manager
Jack has been working in farm management and agricultural business consultancy since graduating with a BSc (Hons) Agriculture, Land and Farm Management Degree from Harper Adams University in 2008. His work focuses on practical farm business solutions that are financially, technically and environmentally sustainable and which meet the objectives of the clients he works with.
Growing up on his family’s dairy farm in West Somerset, Jack is passionate about milk production and works with a variety of herd sizes and farming systems in the UK and further afield. Developing viable business strategies and providing the technical support required to achieve them is the main focus of his work.
Crop Technology
Environmental Lead
Nick Anderson
Technical Director
Nick graduated from Harper Adams with a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture in 2009 and worked as an agronomist in East Anglia for a number of years. In 2015 Nick moved to Russia working with a 200,000 ha farming business to improve all aspects of crop production.
Nick continues to work as a consultant to a number of large farming businesses in Eastern Europe and the CIS region alongside his role as Head of Crop Technology for Velcourt. In his current position, Nick works closely with Velcourt Farm Managers and Agronomists to optimise crop production systems and strategy for the company and its clients.
nanderson@velcourt.co.uk
07342 038182
Nick Down
Senior Farm Manager - Environmental Lead
Nick joined Velcourt in 2002 as a trainee farm manager after graduating from the University of Plymouth with a BSc (Hons) degree in Agriculture. After a farm management role in Wiltshire, Nick now manages the farming enterprise of the Yattendon Estate in Berkshire, offers agronomy advice across north Wiltshire and also acts as Environmental Lead comprising the areas of natural capital, soil health and environmental stewardship.
ndown@velcourt.co.uk
07717 660397
Advisors
Patrick Levinge
Head of Agronomy
Patrick joined Velcourt in 2019 after 11 years with a national chemical distributor and offers clients full crop walking services alongside valuable strategic advice.
He is based at the Down Ampney Estate and advises on combinable crops, grass, forage, AD feedstock and root crops. He is BASIS, FASTS, ICM and BETA trained and completed The Worshipful Company of Farmers’ advanced business management course in 2007.
plevinge@velcourt.co.uk
01793 750652
Sam Tugwell
Regional Advisor
Before joining velcourt Sam worked as an assistant farm manager for a 1500acre farm, part of a 10,000acre farming business, assisting in making management and agronomic decisions, walking crops on a regular basis with the farms agronomist. Sam also played a part in ensuring the whole arable farm complied with assured standards
Prior to that Sam ran a contract farming business farming up to 1,000 acres of arable land making all management decisions and performing the majority of the practical faming operations himself.
Before that Sam managed his family’s 700acre arable farm again preforming the majority of the practical farming operations alongside the decision making process. Sam is BASIS trained, and has keen interests in, on farm agronomy, soil fertility, soil health, nutrient management, and precision farming technology
stugwell@velcourt.co.uk
07884 455 902
Kieran Walsh
Regional Advisor Cotswolds
A former farm manager and spray operator, Kieran provides agronomy advice to Velcourt clients in the Cotswolds and surrounding counties.
His approach is hands-on, progressive and collaborative and he has a particular passion for agri-tech and soils. His ultimate aim is to work with growers to achieve the most efficient means of crop production at the lowest sustainable cost.
kwalsh@velcourt.co.uk
07811 912759
Ryan Hudson
Regional Advisor East Anglia
After working as an independent agronomist and as area manager for a global agrochemical manufacturer, Ryan took up post as a regional agronomist for Velcourt in 2017.
He provides tailored advice to arable advisory clients as well as working alongside the R&D team to plan and evaluate Velcourt’s trial work. His professional interests include soil and crop nutrition, precision farming and benchmarking. Ryan is from a farming background in Somerset and is a graduate of Harper Adams.
rhudson@velcourt.co.uk
01223 207845
Chris Spain
Regional Advisor South West
Chris joined Velcourt as an South West Regional Agronomist in 2019. Chris moved to Hampshire in 1996 when he was appointed as Farm Manager on a large mixed enterprise and private Estate.
In 2012, he specialised in morphine poppy production and became U.K. and Portuguese Poppy Operations Manager for Johnson Matthey being responsible for all aspects of 4000 hectares of poppy production. In 2017 he became a regional distribution agronomist, whilst continuing to advise on the U.K. poppy production following an industry restructuring. Chris joined Velcourt with significant practical and agronomy knowledge. He advises on farms across the South West.
Alice Clews
Regional Advisor Yorkshire
aclews@velcourt.co.uk
07859 848852
Non Executive Directors
David Buckeridge
Dr David Buckeridge has worked with the leading Food and Agribusiness private equity fund, Paine Schwartz Partners (PSP) since 2006 and has more than 25 years of management experience in the life science and agribusiness industries. He began his career with AstraZeneca and was previously the CEO of Advanta. David is chairman of the board of ScanBio Marine Group and serves on the boards of Rivulis, Spearhead International and Verdesian Life Sciences. He grew up on London and has a PhD in Genetics and Plant Sciences from the University of Wales.
Anthony Colburn
Anthony Colburn is based in Gloucestershire where he owns and farms land. He is managing director of a farming company in Lincolnshire and a non-executive director or trustee of several estates with extensive property and farming interests. He has served as a Governor of the Royal Agricultural University and joined the Velcourt Board in 2012.
Steve Ellwood
Steve has a wealth of experience within the UK agriculture and agrifood sectors. He was Head of Agriculture at HSBC for ten years and spent four years as Head of Food and Agriculture at Smith & Williamson before taking on a number of non-executive roles for a range of companies in the fresh produce, agricultural supplies and plant breeding industries.
David Teague
David has been Financial Director and Company Secretary of Velcourt Group plc since1984. He has extensive experience with agricultural and land-based businesses in the UK and Europe, including creating bespoke funding arrangements and corporate structures, developing commercial relationships and liaising with private and institutional shareholders. David holds a number of non-executive roles in other agricultural corporations and institutions.