AIC Dinner and Conference 2026 - Delivering for the Agri-Food Supply Chain in an Ever-Changing World

Anna Jones

Anna Jones is a rural affairs journalist, author, educator, and founder and CEO of Just Farmers™ Community Interest Company. She’s also a farmer’s daughter from the Welsh Borders. 

She has produced and directed BBC One’s Countryfile, Channel 4’s Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker and is a familiar voice on Radio 4’s Farming Today and On Your Farm. In 2025, Anna drove across the Midwest of America listening to the views of rural communities on President Trump for the Radio 4 documentary Corn Belt People. 

Anna founded Just Farmers™ after completing a Nuffield Farming Scholarship looking at the coverage of agriculture in the mainstream media. She developed her own training model to give farmers and growers the practical skills and confidence to tell their own stories, in their own words. Anna now travels the UK delivering storytelling courses and giving talks to a wide range of organisations. 

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Robert Sheasby

AIC Chief Executive, AIC

Robert Sheasby is the Chief Executive of the Agricultural Industries Confederation the trade association which represents agri business in the UK. His experience is from a career in agriculture having also held a number of roles within the National Farmers Union before joining the AIC in 2018, as well as working as a land agent and auctioneer in his early career. In this role Robert sits on a number of Government stakeholder groups including the DiT Trade Advisory Group for agriculture and food, the Defra group on Productivity as well as having overall responsibility for the operation of the AIC.

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

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Jim Fairlie MSP

Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity,

Jim Fairlie was born in Perth and has lived and worked in the area all his life. He began his career as a shepherd before becoming a hill farmer. He built a successful food and events-based catering business and has extensive experience in urban and rural affairs. He was elected to represent Perthshire South and Kinross-shire at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. 

He was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity in February 2024. 

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Andrew Muir MLA

Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland Executive

No bio provided

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Tom Bradshaw

President, NFU

Tom Bradshaw, the newly elected President of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex.  Alongside a small owned farm they run a contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops in North East Essex.  

Tom was Chair of the National Crops Board before becoming part of the Presidential team in 2020, serving 2 years as Vice and 2 years as Deputy. 

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Alexander Döring

Alexander Döring graduated as an Agricultural Economist at the University of Bonn (1991). He is Secretary General of FEFAC for over 30 years, being appointed in 1994. In his working experience as FEFAC Secretary General, he has been a regular participant in European Commission Advisory & Civil Society Dialogue Groups, EFSA stakeholder platforms meetings, EC seminars & training workshops on Feed Hygiene, as well as meetings of international Organisations including Codex Alimentarius, FAO, and IFIF. 

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Garlich von Essen

Garlich von Essen was born in Germany in 1964 and studied agriculture and economics at the University of Göttingen where he graduated in 1990. He started his professional career in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Agriculture before taking a scholarship at the College of Europe in Bruges, graduating in administrative and political sciences. 

From 1994 to 1999 he worked in the European Parliament where, next to agricultural and structural policy, he worked specifically on the EU’s R&D policy and funding instruments.  Joining the European seed industry in 1999 as Director Public Affairs, he became Secretary General of Euroseeds (then ESA European Seed Association) in 2004. 

In his capacity of CEO, Garlich von Essen is responsible for the overall management of the association and its staff, for the development of strategic policy campaigns on Euroseeds’ priority issues and for the positioning of Europe’s seed industry vis-à-vis EU and international bodies and decision makers. He advises the Euroseeds Board and Executive Committee and takes specific responsibility for outreach 
and advocacy strategy and planning. 

In his personal capacity, he was member of the European Commission’s Stakeholder Dialogue Group, advising on public consultation mechanisms and tools, and is Member of the Board of Trustees of the Max Planck Gesellschaft, Institute for Plant Breeding Research Cologne. He also chaired the AFCC (Agri-FoodChain Coalition), comprising EU-level associations from agricultural input industries over farmers to trade and food production. In 2025, he was appointed as Member of the new European Board for Agriculture and Food EBAF.

Garlich von Essen regularly lectures on EU public affairs at a number of European institutes and organisations and is a sought-after public speaker on modern association management and agri-food policies. He farms in the North of Germany.

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Stéphanie Pelet-Serra

Director, Agri Policies, COCERAL

Stéphanie Pelet-Serra is Director of Agri-Policies at COCERAL, where she leads work on EU agricultural policy, food and feed safety, and regulatory developments affecting the cereals and oilseed trade. With over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer and policy advisor—including roles at the European Commission— she is recognised for her strong experience in navigating European policymaking and engaging stakeholders at both technical and political levels. She holds a PhD in law from the University of Montpellier and is fluent in French, English, and Italian.  

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Vanessa Adamson

Vanessa Adamson is a Retail and Consumer Insight Manager at AHDB. Her role focuses on understanding retail and consumer opportunities and shopper trends within the meat and dairy industry and communicating opportunities for AHDB levy payers. She is responsible for undertaking research projects to understand changing consumer attitudes towards cooking, buying and eating food and its implications for the supply chain. Her work also covers key reputational topics, such as buying British, environment, animal welfare and health. 

Prior to joining AHDB, Vanessa worked for an econometrics consultancy, evaluating marketing effectiveness to improve campaigns and return on investment. Before this, she worked as a category manager within fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), responsible for developing brands and categories within retail to maximise sales and profitability. 

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Dan Clarke

IGD

Dan is an AfN Registered Nutritionist working as part of the IGD Social Impact team to support transitioning the UK population to healthier, more sustainable diets. IGD is a strategic food and grocery insight, foresight, and learning organisation. Here to unite the industry and benefit society. IGD invests all its profits into social impact.

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Dr Paul Redmond

Paul Redmond is an academic, author and employment guru. 

Formerly the Director of Student Experience and Enhancement at the University of Liverpool, Paul is the UK’s leading voice on multigenerational workforces. He has held visiting lectureships at various leading universities and has been responsible for guiding the careers of thousands of students and graduates. Paul’s research into Generation Z, the post Covid world of work, the rise of Zombie Jobs , techniques for building excellent intergenerational communications, and Helicopter Parents has garnered him praise and respect from a range of national and international organisations.  

Paul is the author of numerous books, reports and studies, including The Graduate's Guide to Future-Proofing your Career (2024), and the highly popular diary column for the UK’s Institute of Student Employers’ magazine. Paul is currently working on his new book, The Rise of the Zombie Jobs which will reveal, for the first time, those jobs and careers that are most likely to be lost to AI and robotics, and those that (for now) are likely to be safe. He writes regularly for national newspapers and other publications, and is a frequent guest on the BBC and independent current affairs shows. 

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James Thornton

Chief Operating Officer, Warrendale Wagyu

Since joining the business in 2015, James has been pivotal in driving growth and spearheading the creation of Warrendale Wagyu, establishing a foundational framework for the business. He has ensured the company has increased its turn-over and profitability and has grown ownership of farms by Warrendale from six to 28 over the past ten years. Prior to joining the group, he worked at Lloyds Bank in their agricultural team, overseeing agricultural operations in Northern England. 

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