First Milk confirms establishment of new Member Council

Carl Ravenhall (Non-Executive Director), Brian Mackie (Chief Operating Officer), Mike Gallacher (Chief Executive)
Carl Ravenhall (Non-Executive Director), Brian Mackie (Chief Operating Officer), Mike Gallacher (Chief Executive)

First Milk has today confirmed the establishment of its new Member Council. This is the final element of the governance changes which stemmed from the Greenburn Report which was initiated after the arrival of Mike Gallacher as the new CEO in 2015.

The activation of the new Member Council follows the establishment of a new smaller and more commercial First Milk Board at the end of 2015.

Mike Gallacher, CEO, commented: “This concludes another key milestone in developing a professional governance structure that is fit for purpose and will deliver for members. First Milk has moved fast over the last 10 months and the pace of change will continue as we address the fundamentals of the business and work to improve our returns to members.”

The new Member Council consists of the seven people (listed below). They were selected following a robust and independently scrutinised process, chaired by non-executive director and former Müller Wiseman Dairies / Adams Foods MD, Carl Ravenhall.

• Christine Kelsall, Lancashire

• Mike Smith, Pembrokeshire

• Robert Craig, Cumbria

• Scott Calderwood, Dumbartonshire

• Wendy Radley, Cheshire

• Willie Campbell, Ayrshire

• Willie Purdie, Dumfries

Carl Ravenhall said: “I believe we have achieved a good balance between experience and fresh new ideas. We have significantly strengthened the governance of this business, with a smaller Board that has greater commercial skills and a new Member Council with clearly defined powers and responsibilities.”

The Member Council’s roles are to oversee the strategy of the business and represent First Milk’s farmer owners. Mr Ravenhall was joined on the nominations committee by two Board members and two Area Representatives. The committee also benefitted from independent advice given by John Chillcott (non-executive director of Co-operatives UK).

John Chillcott commented on the process: “The creation of the new Council attracted fifteen high calibre and enthusiastic candidates, all of whom were interviewed and assessed through a consistent process by the nominations committee, and the recommendations for appointment were made on the basis of the resulting ranked scores.”

Carl Ravenhall added: “The Member Council has the skills required to ensure this business acts in the best interests of its members and deals commercially with the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

The new Member Council will be constituted in April and it will then appoint an independent chairperson. All Board and Council appointments will be subject to member approval later this year.