A former Director-General of the NFU Richard was a governor of The Royal Agricultural College (Cirencester), and chairman of Farm Africa. He was also a director of Dairy Crest and an advisor to Moy Park. He is currently deputy chairman of the Environment Agency, a director of Sidai, a social impact business in Kenya, and a strategic advisor to Devenish Nutrition.
A Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society, Richard was awarded a CBE in Birthday Honours List in 2002 for services to agriculture. His hobbies include participation in a number of sports, gardening and long-distance trekking.