AIC Dinner and Conference 2025 - Managing “New Global Norms” in the Agri-Food Supply Chain

Baroness Minette Batters

Minette Batters made history as the first woman elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in its 113-year history, representing over 46,000 farming businesses across England and Wales.  

Her leadership spanned critical periods including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. A passionate advocate for British food and farming, she led a landmark campaign in 2020 that garnered over one million signatures to protect food standards. She co-founded ‘Ladies in Beef’ and the Great British Beef Week, and is a regular media contributor. 

A tenant farmer on the Longford Estate in Wiltshire, she began farming in 1998 and now runs a diversified business including beef, arable crops, events, and floriculture. A trained Cordon Bleu chef and former amateur jockey, she is also a dedicated charity fundraiser, having raised over £100,000. In 2024, she became a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and was previously appointed Deputy Lieutenant to Queen Elizabeth. 

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Dame Angela Eagle MP

Minister of State (Minister for Food Security & Rural Affairs),

Dame Angela Eagle DBE was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 6 September 2025.
She was previously Minister of State (Minister for Border Security and Asylum) at the Home Office from 8 July 2024 to 6 September 2025. She was elected as the MP for Wallasey in the general election of July 2024.

Political career

Angela  was first elected to Parliament in 1992, when she became the first ever Labour Member of Parliament for Wallasey.   
In her time as MP for Wallasey, Angela has served as a minister in several departments. Under Tony Blair, these included Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions; for Social Security and for Home Affairs. She also served as Opposition Whip under Tony Blair.
In Gordon Brown’s government she served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society.
In Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet, she served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In 2011, she became Shadow Leader of the House. In 2015, she was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, a position she held until June 2016.  
During her time as a backbencher, Angela has sat on the Treasury Select Committee and the Intelligence and Security Committee and held a number of positions within the Labour Party including membership of the National Executive Committee and Chair of the Equalities Committee.

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Professor Pete Falloon

Science Lead - Food Security, Met Office

Professor Pete Falloon (FRMetS, FRSA) is the Met Office’s Science Lead – Food Security, and leads the Met Office’s Climate Service for Defra on Food, Farming and Natural Environment. Pete has over 25 years of experience in the impacts of climate and land use change on food systems and the environment. Pete has been at the Met Office Hadley Centre since 2004 and led the Climate Impacts Modelling team from 2009-2019. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and of the Royal Meteorological Society, a contributing author to the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and was a member of the Global Food Security Programme’s Programme Coordination Group board from 2013-2023. Pete is also Associate Professor in Climate Resilient Food Systems at the University of Bristol, Sustainability Director for Food Drink Devon CIC and an Honorary Associate at the Walker Institute. 

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George Freeman MP

Former Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agritech,

Elected to Parliament in 2010 after a 15year career in technology venture capital, George has held a number of key Science & Technology Ministerial roles under four Prime Ministers over the last 14years: as first UK Minister for Life Science, first Minister for Decarbonisation & Digitalisation of Transport and Minister of State for Science & Technology shaping the UK’s programs for Quantum, Fusion, Space and EngBio. In 2014 George launched the UK Agritech Strategy with the Agritech Catalyst Fund, regional Agri Innovation Centres & AgriMetrics Centre. 

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Mairi Gougeon MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands,

Mairi Gougeon was previously a councillor for Brechin and Edzell, during which she was chairwoman of the East of Scotland European Consortium. 

She is a history graduate from the University of Aberdeen. 

Mairi was elected as the MSP for Angus North and Mearns in May 2016. She was appointed Minister for Public Health and Sport in December 2020. 

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Caz Graham

BBC Radio Presenter and Reporter,

Caz Graham is a regular presenter and reporter on Farming Today and On Your Farm on BBC Radio 4. She’s a freelance radio journalist and has reported for numerous Radio 4 programmes including Today, PM, the World at One and Woman’s Hour over the last 25 years.  

She reported extensively on the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, presenting and producing Sony Award winning programmes and compiling a book, Foot and Mouth - Heart and Soul, launched by the then Director General of the BBC Greg Dyke, documenting the experiences of 50 people who’d found their lives turned upside down by the epidemic. 

Caz grew up on a mixed farm near Carlisle and she’s proud to have made her professional debut reading out the lamb bank and fat stock prices on BBC Radio Cumbria. 

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Dr Elliott Grant

Visiting Fellow (IfM), University of Cambridge

ELLIOTT GRANT works at the intersection of technology and agriculture, and has led the development and commercialization of breakthrough technologies throughout the global food system.  

In 2017 Dr. Grant joined Google[X] to lead the development of foundational AI for agriculture, and in 2023 became CEO of Mineral - one of Alphabet’s “Other Bets”. He serves on the boards of Sun World International and the International Fresh Produce Association, and is a Scientific Advisor to Driscoll’s. Prior to joining Google, he was the CEO of ShopWell Labs, a pioneer of personalized nutrition; the founding CEO of HarvestMark, a world leader in food traceability; a consultant at McKinsey & Company; and the Vice Chair of the Produce Marketing Association.  

He has been awarded more than fifty US Patents and invented (then open-sourced) the VoiceCode which is a traceability standard on every case of fresh produce in N. America.  Elliott earned a PhD in Engineering from Cambridge University.  In addition to advising multiple startups in agriculture, he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing and at Trinity Hall, where he researches the future of agriculture in the coming era of AI.   

He lives in Cambridge with his wife, and writes about the future of agriculture here. 

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Kelly Hewson-Fisher

Director, Head of Rural Research Savills Rural, Savills

Kelly Hewson-Fisher is Director and Head of Rural Research for Savills UK. Kelly started life on a dairy farm in Lincolnshire and her early career focused on agricultural consultancy across the country.  

Kelly spent seven years as an agricultural advisor with Anglian Water, working with farmers across Lincolnshire to look at collaborative projects to improve water quality.  

Kelly moved to the NFU as their National Water Resources Specialist where she focused on working with regulatory and government bodies calling for a fair share of water for agriculture.  

Kelly is a Director of the Oxford Farming Conference and is Chair of the Lincolnshire Farming Conference. Kelly’s current role with Savills is leading an 11-strong team to provide insight and thought leadership for the rural sector across the UK.  

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Huw Irranca-Davies MS

Deputy First Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs,

Huw Irranca-Davies MS is the Welsh Government's Deputy First Minister and has responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

Before being elected to the Senedd in 2016, he was an MP in Westminster. He served as Environment Minister in Defra and later as Shadow Minister for Food and Farming from 2011-2015.

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Jonathan Lane

Managing Director, ADM

No bio provided

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Sam Lowe

Partner, Flint Global

Sam heads Flint’s trade and market access practice. He advises clients on global trade policy, with a focus on removing barriers to trade, customs, economic security, and managing supply chain risk. 

Sam is also a visiting senior research fellow at the Policy Institute, Kings College London, and provides advanced training on issues such as rules of origin, trade and sustainability, and trade and development for Government officials. He is regularly asked to comment on trade issues by global media publications such as The Financial Times, The Economist, and The Guardian. 

Before joining Flint, Sam was a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. He has held positions as a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020), a senior adviser to the Blakeney Group, and the trade lead for a prominent environmental charity. In his early career, he worked on issues relating to the rights of small-scale gemstone miners in Greenland and forced land acquisition in Uganda.

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby was appointed the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) Chief Executive in May 2018.  In this role Robert has overall responsibility for all aspects of the AIC, across its political lobbying, member representation and the six trade assurance schemes it runs on behalf of the agricultural supply sector.  Robert joined the AIC after 17 years at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) where he had held various roles, most recently as NFU Regional Director for East Anglia.  Prior to this Robert had been Regional Director in the North West and NFU Surveyor for England & Wales.

Robert studied at Seale Hayne Agricultural College and holds a degree in Rural Estate Management as well as being a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).  Prior to joining the NFU in 2001 Robert worked in the South West and the Thames Valley for firms of chartered surveyors as land agent and auctioneer.  Robert is also a member of the Agricultural Law Association (ALA).

Robert is experienced in agricultural political lobbying both at a national and European level.  He has been involved in the development of national policy with Government, shaped European policy, as well as worked with national infrastructure companies to develop framework agreements for national use.

In addition to his daytime role Robert is a Governor at Easton and Otley Agricultural College which covers Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond.  This role provides not only insight to the future of our industry but also enables him to contribute something in return to the industry.

In his personal life Robert is married to Anna and they have three daughters, Olivia, Matilda and Isabelle.  Away from work Robert enjoys rugby, cycling and mountain walking.

: https://www.agindustries.org.uk
: robertsheasby
: @Agindustriesuk

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Tim J Smith CBE

Chairman, Cranswick plc

Tim has extensive experience in the UK food sector, having held senior roles in food manufacturing, government regulation, and supermarket retail. 

Currently serving as Non-Executive Chairman of Cranswick plc, Tim was previously Group Quality Director at Tesco plc from 2012 to 2017. Prior to joining Tesco, he was Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Before leading the FSA, Tim held Chief Executive roles at several major food businesses, including Arla and Sara Lee. 

In addition to his industry roles, Tim has made significant contributions to government initiatives. He chaired the Trade and Agriculture Commission and currently chairs the Food and Drink Sector Council, helping to guide strategic direction for the industry. 

In recognition of his contributions to food and agriculture, Tim was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2022. 

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