Board Member

John farms in Cambridgeshire and is a former chair of Camgrain. He joined the NIAB Trust in January 2024.

With a career span­ning over 50 years Philip has man­aged and advised busi­ness­es in near­ly every sec­tor of agri­cul­ture. He has been Chair­man of LEAF since 2017 and a Direc­tor of Dyson Farm­ing since it was formed in 2013 and has a num­ber of oth­er Direc­tor­ships across the food and farm­ing sec­tor. He is a finan­cial and strate­gic advis­er to a num­ber of large scale veg­etable, pota­to and arable busi­ness. 

With a career spanning over 30 years in food and agritech innovation, Trish Malarkey has held senior research and development roles in multinational businesses in the UK, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the USA. These include Chief Innovation Officer at Royal DSM, Head of Global Research and Development at Syngenta and various non-executive director and scientific advisory roles in established global companies and start-ups.

Trish joined the NIAB Board in January 2024.

David Buckeridge was elected as Chair of the NIAB Board in June 2023.

Guy farms 350 hectares at St Osyth in Essex, mainly growing quality wheat. The farm is notable in that it is officially the driest spot in the British Isles, is mainly below sea level protected by two miles of sea defence walls, and adjoins areas of international environmental importance. The farm business is well diversified including agri-tourist attractions such as The Blue Garden Cafe.

Jon’s background is in Information Technology in Financial services. Having started his career in the Lloyds Insurance market as an Aviation Broker, he moved into information technology and has been engaged in sales, product marketing and systems development. He has been responsible for bringing high technology products to market and also large scale system development and deployment.

Senior roles held in the City included Head of International Sales NCR Financial Services, Managing Director of IT Alexander Howden Ltd (Now Aon), Head of Sales and Marketing EMEA Bank of New York.

Robert Lowson is a former senior civil servant, working for MAFF and Defra. His posts included Minister in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, Communications Director and Environment Strategy Director in Defra, and Senior Advisor with the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Ian Puddephat is a crop physiologist with a diverse interest in plant biology, crop breeding and agronomy. He is experienced in leading complex programmes, from discovery to commercial application, and has worked in both academia and industry. He built PepsiCo’s crop science R&D capability in support of the company’s portfolio transformation in their nutrition, beverage and snack foods businesses.

Steve has spent his career in the food and farming sector and now has a number of non executive roles with UK based companies. These include businesses operating in fresh produce, poultry meat, large scale farm management and animal feed production. He is a graduate of Newcastle University and spent a number of years leading HSBC Bank's Agriculture Team. Outside of work he is a fell walker and keen cricket fan and commits a significant amount of time to charity and voluntary work.

John Elliot qualified as a chartered accountant in Oxford before attending agricultural college and returning to manage the family and estate business. He holds a number of non-executive roles.