The Royal Agricultural Society of England has announced the appointment of David Gardner as its new Chief Executive. David Gardner has been a Trustee of the Society since 2010.
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David leaves his current role as Head of Fruit Operations at the Co-operative Farms to take over at RASE next month. He succeeds Denis Chamberlain who has held the role of Chief Executive in an interim capacity for the past 14 months.
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Commenting on the appointment, Henry Cator, RASE Chairman of Trustees, said:
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’We are absolutely delighted to welcome David into post as our new Chief Executive at such a crucial time for the organisation. As a Trustee of the Society, David has developed a very close working knowledge of RASE activities. He has been very supportive of the changes and innovations that have been introduced by in the past fourteen months and is committed to further developing the Practice with Science and Communication strategies now in place.
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’This appointment will continue the progress of RASE and enable the Society to take a positive and leading role in developing a practical and scientific agenda that is relevant to the requirements of a modern agricultural industry.’
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David Gardner said: ’I am delighted to be joining the RASE at a time when the Society is moving in a new direction. Our Practice with Science agenda has never been more relevant than it is today when agriculture has to meet the challenge of feeding a growing world population. I look forward to developing many new initiatives on behalf of both our members and the industry.’
David Gardner began his farming career with the Co-operative Farms as a management trainee in 1981. He managed the Co-op’s Stoughton farming estate throughout the 1990s, became a member of the Co-operative Farms’ Senior Management Team in 2001 and took over the organisations’ fruit operation in 2008. He is a Trustee of the Frank Parkinson Trust and was awarded the Nuffield Arden Scholarship to jointly study new science and pioneer agricultural technologies in 2009.
