Directors of South West Food & Drink

Who is South West Food & Drink?

South West Food & Drink is a Limited Company, wholly funded by the South West of England Regional Development Agency. The Board of Directors, comprised of industry and sector representatives, will co-ordinate development initiatives in the region and drive through new programmes, working along side existing and new industry led Sector Groups. These directors give up their time freely to fulfil their roles. Also on the Board is the Chairman and the full time Operations Manager who oversees the running and operation of the organisation. Presently, two Project Managers make up the rest of the team.  
 

Biographies of Board Members of South West Food & Drink

Harry Studholme  
 
 
Harry Studholme is the owner manager of the Perridge Estate, a business which includes a 350 acre in-hand arable and sheep farm with 650 acres of woodland, and both residential and light industrial property letting.  
 
After studying Engineering at Cambridge University, Harry qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor. Following work in the accounting profession he worked in manufacturing industry both in finance and in general management.  
 
Harry as well as being Chairman of South West Food and Drink is also a UK Forestry Commissioner, Chairman of the South West Chamber of Rural Enterprise, Chairman of Integer, a London based Insurance Company and a member of the South West Rural Affairs Forum.

Christine Marshall 
 
 
Operations Manager and Company Secretary for South West Food & Drink, has 35 years experience in the Food & Drink and Hospitality sectors. Experiences include working in the catering sector for publicly funded enterprises such as a university in Wales, the MOD in Scotland and hotel management in London. As a classically trained chef, has successfully owned and run both a restaurant and hotel over 21 years in the North West. Moved back to her roots in the South West, (a Devon farmer's daughter) and engaged with the local Food & Drink Industry by joining South West Food & Drink in 2003.

Brian Pocock 
 
 
Brian Pocock After graduating in Business Studies, Brian Pocock (58) spent over 30 years in the dairy industry, holding senior positions in production, distribution, strategic planning, and procurement. He is well known in the South West as a leader in farm and food assurance and was a significant contributor to the creation of the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme.  
 
Brian has his own consulting practice focussing on business strategy and development. Currently, he is a Fellow of, and Lecturer at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester and advises a number of food businesses and organisations in the South West and nationally. He is also Chairman of a Trust which supports tertiary education in the dairy industry. Brian also breeds Simmental cattle on his farm in Cornwall and has a daughter who is a practising vet.  
 
 

Jim Barnard 
 
Jim Barnard has 20 years experience in the UK food sector specialising in niche dairy products. In the last decade he has worked abroad advising governments, United Nations and the World Bank on development issues in the food and agriculture sector on a national level. He is an experienced scientist. 
 
He is currently director of a number of UK, including a farming company, and overseas companies and is a member of the South West Industrial Development Board.  

 

 
 

Professor Colin Dennis DL, BSc, PhD, CSci, FIFST, FIFT, FRSA, FIAFoST  
 
Colin Dennis is Director-General of the Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association Group (CCFRA), Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.  
 
 
He has 36 years experience in food research and 26 years of senior management experience in an industry focused organisation providing multidisciplinary scientific and technical support (including training, consultancy, process and product development, analytical and testing, information and legislation, trouble shooting and auditing) to large, medium and small companies as well as government clients.  
 
He is also Chairman of the International Trade Forum, the Agri-business Advisory Group to the United Kingdom Trade & Investment and the UK Chair of the Agri-business Working Group of the Joint Economic Trade Committee between the UK and India.  
 
He is also a Non-Executive Director of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and a Director of Friends of the Cotswolds. 
 

 
Michael Horrell 
 
Michael Horrell is a founding Director of Lynher Dairies. Michael advises the Board of South West Food & Drink on matters relating to the dairy industry. 
 

David Lattimore 
 
David Lattimore has over 30 years experience in the Dairy industry working with all members of the supply chain.  
Currently he is a Director of Forgefirst Ltd offering a range of business services to industry with primary focus on the Dairy Sector.  
 
Latterly he was a Council Member of the Milk Development Council and has worked closely with the Defra sponsored Dairy Supply Chain Forum. David was a member of the team that successfully launched the first Ukrainian company onto the UK stock exchange - AIM market, Ukrproduct Group Ltd.  
 
David leads the Finance Committee for South West Food and Drink and works closely with the Dairy Sector Group. 
 
 

Rodney Hall 
 
A habit for making the unconventional seem conventional, a long history of working in succesful business of all different types. I now run with my Business partner Ben Moseley, Rod and Bens, a small rural business.  
 
I am very aware of the perils of running SME's and bring down to earth suggestions to help solve larger problems. 
 

 
 
Steve Turton 
 
Steve Turton has spent his whole life in the meat industry, from joining the family retail butchery business in 1980 he is now Managing Director of Turton Quality Foods Ltd the manufacturers of Westaway Sausages and also Managing Director of Artisan-GST Ltd, meat processors based at Heathfield Newton Abbot. 
 
Steve believes that by having grown his company from small start up to where it is today, he understands the needs of smaller and medium food processors alike, and recognises the pitfalls and opportunities associated with growing a successful regional food company.

Deirdre Makepeace - BA DipM, Chartered Marketer 
 
 
With over 20 years experience in marketing management, Deirdre comes from a tourism background, having worked as Marketing Manager for Paignton Zoo and Head of Tourism for the English Riviera, where she has worked closely with the teams behind Occombe Farm and the new Brixham fish market.  
 
Other experience includes, 2 years as Marketing Communications Manager for Riverford Organic Vegetables, Chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Overseas Marketing programme and various lecturing and training work.  
 

 
Yvonne Burgin 
 
Having studied Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Surrey, Yvonne has held a number of senior positions in the UK's food manufacturing industry. 
 
Yvonne's experience includes managing major processes and organisations in a number of blue chip companies including Northern Foods and Alpha Flight Services. Yvonne's career moved on to run her own major Devon company supplying ASDA and Somerfield with a large proportion of their chilled pastry products and employing 400 local people. 
 
Recently Yvonne has started up a brand new food business Brocklebanks of Devon Ltd which, produces and supplies desserts to premium catering outlets. 

 
 
Simon MacDonnell 
 
Simon MacDonnell left the world of teaching to train at Leith's School of Food and Wine to follow his dream of running a laid back bar in Southern Spain. After stints at Alistair Little, Peter Gordon's Sugar Club and one of London's original and best gastro pubs "The Engineer", he left London for not Barcelona, but Bristol - a good compromise, he felt! There he worked at Quartier Vert, one of the UK's pioneering organic restaurants with catering contracts for no less than HRH The Prince of Wales at Highgrove.  
 
Dreams of opening his own restaurant changed slightly when his first son, Tomos was born. He and his wife, Catrin decided maybe a delicatessen with its slightly more civilized opening hours would be a better option.  
 
So in 2002, Papadeli was born. With its superb meals prepared on site for takeaway proving such a great success, Papadeli café was opened a year later, upstairs, above the shop. Since then, the business has gone from strength to strength, winning various awards, and being voted "Best deli" in the South West by Observer readers three years running. The Papadeli now has a hamper and mail order service in addition to an ever expanding catering service. 
Simon has an active interest in all things local and believes the South West is a region of food excellence which deserves to be promoted both nationally and internationally. 
 
 

David Morgan 
 
 
David started his first food business when he was 23. The company Interfreeze, grew to two depots covering North West London and the surrounding counties. Subsequently, he built Foodcall a supplies business, distributing frozen products to retail bakers in the South West and Brittons a Bath based manufacturer of chilled vegetarian products for health food shops and supermarkets.  
 
As an owner manager, both buying and selling food products throughout the South West for 20 years, David has a keen appreciation of the difficulties and joys of this way of life. He is keen advocate of all things local.  
 
Currently David advises SMEs on finance, development and restructuring with a particular interest in social businesses.  

Denise Pascoe 
 
Denise Pascoe is a Director of Brian Etherington Meat Company which supplies fresh meat and frozen food to the catering industry throughout Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly. She has over 30 years experience in the meat industry. 
 
She is a Professional Trainer in her own Company as well as Internal Verifier for SWFD and Duchy College and is the Chairman of the SWFDSN (South West Food & Drink Skills Network) Management Group. She has also gone through the NVQ process in management and achieved level 5 and is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute.  
 
Denise developed within her own Company one of the first employer based 'Academy of Butchery Excellence' schools for NVQ's in Cornwall; working with the Meat Training Council providing multi skilled butchers for all sectors of the industry. 
 
Recently her Company has won an award for the 'Best Volume Catering Sausage' in the UK under the brand name of 'Cornish Premier Gold' which uses local Cornish pork to produce one of the highest quality speciality sausages in the region.