AHDB new horticulture board chair is Hayley Campbell-Gibbons

9 August 2018, by Matthew Appleby
The NFU policy adviser is now a new member of the board of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, who will also chair its Horticulture Sector Board, replacing Gary Taylor.
Hayley Campbell-Gibbons will take up her post from 1 November 2018. Her appointment will run until 31 October 2021.
This appointment has been made jointly by Defra, and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland governments.
She said: “I look forward to helping AHDB make a real difference for UK horticulture and agriculture as we manage our way through Brexit and into a new trading environment, and, in particular, to working with the British horticulture sector as it deals with pressures on margins, challenges around labour availability, and concerns over crop protection. I also want to listen to growers, and work with them to identify ways of maximising productivity and fulfilling our potential as a sector.”
AHDB chairman Peter Kendall said: “Hayley is experienced and respected in the industry and is another welcome asset to the AHDB Board at what is a pivotal time for the farming and food sector.”
At 36, Campbell-Gibbons is the youngest board member in AHDB’s history. She brings 15 years’ experience in rural affairs, including over a decade as chief policy adviser to the NFU, where she specialised in horticulture from 2011 onwards. She has represented farmers’ and growers’ interests at UK and EU level, on movements including Catalyst for Change, The Code of Trading Practice for Ornamentals and the NFU’s campaign for a new seasonal agriculture workers scheme. She was a board member of the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA) from 2011-2014. She has a Masters degree in Rural Policy, co-founded a coffee business in 2005, and has extensive national media experience.#