Two directors who were instrumental in the creation of Anglia Farmers have retired from the board.   Henry Edwards and Jim Alston, both Norfolk farmers, were respective chairman of the predecessor groups Mid-Norfolk Farmers and Loddon Farmers and each has been actively involved in the day-to-day business of Anglia Farmers during its seven-year history.
 
“Henry and Jim, with the rest of their previous boards, had the guts to recognise their respective co-operatives had the problem of declining incomes and rising costs,” said George Bell, chairman of Anglia Farmers. “Rather than wringing their hands and doing nothing they were pro-active.  Anglia Farmers is the upshot which is proving to be a pretty good solution.”
 
Part of Henry’s regular activities at Anglia Farmers has been the chairmanship of the membership executive as well as sitting on the organisers’ committee for the Norfolk Farming Conference.  Stepping down from the board will give him more time to help his son run their 2,500 acres farm at Hardingham where his interests include managing the wild bird shoot he started in 1971. He is also involved in church and parish matters. Away from home, he is chairman of the West Norfolk Hunt, president of the Mid-Norfolk Conservative Association and Norfolk secretary of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
 
“It was an honour to follow Robert Pickering and the founder Norman Salmon as chairman of Mid-Norfolk Farmers,” said Henry Edwards. “Knowing we needed to expand, it was fortuitous to find Loddon Farmers had the same intention. The amalgamation didn’t happen overnight because were many small differences to iron out. But both boards were constructive and with the help of Charles Whitaker of Brown & Co as facilitator, Anglia Farmers was successfully born.
 
“We then had a stroke of luck to find Clarke Willis was looking for a new challenge just at that moment, and make no mistake we all owe Clarke and our Chairman, George Bell, a great debt for taking Anglia Farmers on from a County group with 600 members to a company covering the whole country with over 1500 members. Quite a story.”
 
Jim Alston is a director of Calthorpe Farm Limited with 600 acres of arable crops and grass plus a beef-fattening unit.  He manages arable operations for Calibre Farming, a joint company managing 1200 acres of arable cropping.  His wife Marion runs Jemco Safety Signs serving agriculture and local business.  For the past four years he has produced the Anglia Farmers Agricultural Inflation Index which is now widely recognised within the farming industry.  His recent role at Anglia Farmers was chairing the risk management executive which set in place improved risk perception procedures and improved methods of dealing with that risk.
 
“I am proud to have played a part in the development of Anglia Farmers which has become a highly significant buying group. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to seeing it develop further,” said Jim Alston.
 
The overall retirements, which include that of Robert Markillie earlier in the year, complete the planned transition for the new entrants – Richard Hirst, Robert Salmon and Keith Thompson - who joined the board last year.