The UK Dairy Day Industry Panel 4: The Future of your Dairy Business

2.45pm on first floor in Sharing Knowledge Zone

Chair:
> Roy Jackson, WR Partners

Panellists

Hugh Pocock, Director, Cultura Connect

Born and raised on his grandparent’s dairy farm, a passion for agriculture was created from the start. Heavily involved in Holstein Young Breeders when growing up, then graduated from Harper Adams and pursued a career in cattle genetics. In 2016 took on an FBT with his wife and two children on a 100% grass-based farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire. Here they farm New Zealand Romney sheep, Australian Lowline Angus and Wagyu cattle. Sustainability and working closely with nature is close to their hearts, managing the farm with multiple Stewardship initiatives. Hugh is also a Director of the British Wagyu Association, an agribusiness consultant and is still involved with Holstein breeding through his son’s interest in cattle showing.

In 2020 he founded the agribusiness recruitment firm, Cultura Connect.  Founded initially with his business partner where they combined Hugh’s 20+ years’ experience in agribusiness with his 20 years’ experience in recruitment. The business has rapidly grown with the development of a team of recruitment experts with an in-depth knowledge of agriculture. Every business has its own culture along with its core offering of products and/or services, Cultura Connect believe that it is important not to just send multiple CVs to a client but instead only put people forward who they believe can genuinely do the job and fit in with the existing team. This requires the team to have a detailed overview of a business so that when interviewing candidates, they are selected to match closely to the role in question.  This process allows candidates to secure long-term roles in businesses that are a good fit for them. Hugh is passionate about nurturing and developing talent in the agricultural industry and having the opportunity to work with a lot of companies across the sector gives him a unique insight to the challenges of finding and retaining a team.

James Milne, Head of Agri for the East and South East, Barclays Bank

James Milne is one of the Regional Heads of Barclays Agriculture. James currently leads a team of 14 dedicated Agriculture and Landed Estates managers, covering Central and South East England, who support farming and land based businesses through a range of projects such as diversification, sustainability and growth. James is the lead on Sustainability for Barclays Agriculture and has a real passion for driving this with colleagues, customers and a wider audience. As Barclays is one of the largest Agricultural Banks in the UK he understands the importance of listening, understanding and providing the best possible solutions to Farmers right across the sector.

Paul Harris, Founder & CEO, REAL Success

Paul is the Founder and CEO of REAL Success Ltd - a ‘People Consultancy’ based in Solihull, West Midlands. With a team based around the UK, REAL Success Ltd provides recruitment, HR advice, consultancy, training and development to the agricultural sector. All services are centred around the unique VITA Profiling® system, which helps farm owners and managers understand their teams and engage with them more effectively.

Paul is a recognised speaker at major farming events, including the World Dairy Summit, Dairy Tech, Royal Bath and West Show, Total Dairy and EDF Conference, where Paul speaks regularly about staff recruitment and retention. He is established as one of the most respected authorities on team performance, staff alignment and development in the agricultural sector.

He published his second book (“Happy Team Happy Farm”) in July 2023.

Paul Tompkins, NFU Dairy Board Vice Chair

Paul and his wife, Rachael, farm a herd of 400 pedigree Holsteins, supplying Paynes Dairies in the Vale of York. Not from a farming background, Paul worked in the financial sector before meeting his wife and joining the family dairy business.
 
Paul joined the national dairy board in 2017 as an appointee before being elected as a North East representative and most recently serving the last two years as Vice Chairman. Paul is enthusiastic about educating people of all ages about dairy farming and is keen to continue developing relationships with milk processors and other farmer representatives to ensure a joined-up industry approach to future farm policy.
 
Paul believes a fair and transparent supply chain is critical if dairy farmers are to meet the demands of a quickly changing society. He also works hard to ensure the dairy sector is represented throughout the supply chain and at government level so dairy farmers can make the most of future opportunities and have a bright and prosperous future.