The Farmers Mart Aug/Sep 2013 - Issue 29 | Page 15

INDUSTRY NEWS New President for YAS The new President of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, John StoddartScott has had a long association with the Society, its flagship event the Great Yorkshire Show and indeed with farming. His earliest involvement came in 1979, when he first became a horse steward at the Great Yorkshire Show, a role he undertook for a decade. In 1984, he was elected a member of the Society’s Council, going on to serve on many of its committees including finance and education and then the Society’s executive committee. From 1998, for ten years, Mr Stoddart-Scott led the Society as its Chairman, particularly overseeing the development of the Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate. He handed over the role to Simon Theakston in 2008, becoming Vice Chairman. Away from the Society, the family farm is at Arthington where his champion Creskeld Herd of British Holsteins was based. Mr Stoddart-Scott is a former High Sheriff and is a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. Mr Stoddart-Scott is married to Annie, and they have three sons. Mrs Stoddart-Scott’s family has also had a long association with the Society and particularly with the Show’s equine section. Leading auction houses announce merger Two of the North West’s leading auctioneers and property specialists, Frank Marshall and Wright Manley are to merge with effect from the 1st April 2014. Trading as Wright Marshall LLP, the new firm will continue to serve clients throughout the North West and nationally. The new business will employ over 150 full and part-time staff with an annual turnover in excess of £50 million. “This merger has come about following lengthy discussions between the two firms. Our aim is to create a major agricultural and land-based business hub serving this part of the country. We intend to use the merger as a springboard for expansion and growth of the new firm,” said Nigel Eckersley, Chairman of Wright Manley. The new firm will continue to offer the full range of services currently provided, ranging from livestock, horticultural, machinery and fine art auctions through to residential, commercial and agricultural property sales, together with professional services. “Our two businesses complement each other very well. There is no geographical overlap and together we can provide a stronger, more comprehensive service to our clients. We worked together well in 2007 and 2008 during the Bluetongue crisis and the synergy established then encouraged us to move towards a merger,” said Gwyn Williams of Frank Marshall. ‘Our two businesses complement each other very well’ POUL IS NEW NFYFC PRESIDENT Poul Christensen CBE was elected President of NFYFC in 2013 at the AGM. Chair of Natural England and a Director of a successful family dairy farming business at Kingston Hill Farm, in Oxfordshire, Poul has a long track record of integrating c onservation with the demands of modern farming. He is joint founder of the Tenant Farmers’ Association, was previously Chairman of Milk Marque in the late 1990s, steering the dairy sector through a period of significant change, Chair of the Rural Development Service until 2006, overseeing the launch of modern Environmental Stewardship schemes, and a member of the Defra Management Board before taking up the appointment of Chair at Natural England. He is currently a Director of Agricultural Central Trading Limited, a farmer supply co-operative and is a Board member of the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Poul was elected as President Elect of the National Federation Of Young Farmers’ Clubs, in April 2012, before becoming its President in May 2013. Poul is a big supporter of NFYFC and was once a member himself – he became Chairman of his local club in Oxfordshire when he was just 12! To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk FarmersMart Aug/Sep 2013 15