The Team

In store we provide qualified friendly staff to answer any queries whether it be feed, clothing or general needs. Amongst our staff we boast awards in animal health and gold certificates from John Deere. We further support our staff by sending them on training courses at local colleges. We now have specialist staff in every one of our country stores to help you find what you need from our 240,000 product lines which range from household to farm supplies to household goods.

Director profiles

 

Mr. Peter Thomas – Chairman
Coswarth, Newquay
Peter runs 1300 acres of predominantly arable farm with his son George, and was elected as Chairman of the Board in 2008 having served as a main board director for 15 years.  Peter is also a director of Kernow Grain.

 

Mr. Adrian Shute - Vice Chairman
Five Oaks, Canworthy Water
Adrian joined the board in 2004 and has now been elected as Vice Chairman.  He farms 600 acres at Canworthy Water with his parents and three brothers. This consists of a pig unit and single suckler cows plus arable crops.

 

Mrs. Jo Mounce
Strawberry Fields, Lifton
Jo runs the award winning Strawberry Fields enterprise at Lifton, Devon which comprises of Pick Your Own fruit, a farm shop, a bakery and popular restaurant. As a farmer's daughter, her roots are well grounded in main stream agriculture. However, the experience she gained first hand by starting and growing her own business gives her valuable insight into customer service in the retail environment.

 

Mr. Geoffrey Bond
East Browns, Langtree, Torrington
Geoff farms at Langtree and Petrockstowe with his wife Julie and their son Thomas. They farm 480 cows over 575 acres. They also run the 22 bed West Heanton Residential Home.

 

Mr. Colin Bone
Boswarva Farm, Penzance
Colin farms 500 acres in partnership with his son Stephen.
He milks approximately 200 pedigree Holstein Friesians with followers and beef plus arable. Colin has been a board member since 1988.

 

Mr. Michael Bowden
Mount View Farm, Constantine
Michael farms in partnership with his two brothers over approximately 550 acres employing 7 full time staff. They run two dairy herds which totals about 200 cows in total. All the stock is taken through as followers or finished beef. The family also run an agricultural contracting business plus a JCB digger and 4 wheel tipper lorry.

 

Mr. Roland Ley
Thuborough Barton, Holsworthy
Roland farms in a family partnership. They farm over 400 acres, on which they keep a high yielding pedigree Holstein herd with followers including a bull beef unit. They also have a flock of sheep.

 

Mr. Eric Sleep
Trevadlock Farm, Launceston
Eric farms 450 acres with his son James, on the edge of Bodmin Moor. He has a heard of 170 dairy cows, all calves are reared for dairy replacements and the steers are kept and sold as stores. He runs a pedigree flock of charolais sheep, winning the National Flock Competition in 2004/2005. Past president of the local YFC, and a member of the local Parish council.

 

Mr. William Thomas
Trevear Farm, Penzance
William joined the board in August 1990.  During his period on the board, William has been chairman for 12 years. He grows potatoes and packs cauliflowers. He also has a herd of 230 cows made up of milk and beef with his son Richard.

 

Dr. Geoffrey Vernon
Sampford Barton, Sampford Spiney
Geoffrey farms 155 acres on Dartmoor with his wife Julie. They have a herd of pedigree Red Ruby's and a mixed flock of commercial and Greyface Dartmoor ewes. He is a pharmacist and a member of the Veterinary Pharmacy Group of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Geoffrey is Chairman and Non Executive Director of a number of public and private companies in the UK and abroad. Geoffrey was appointed Chairman of the Audit Committee in 2009.

 

Executive team profiles

 

Simon Birch – Chief Executive Officer, Company Secretary
Simon has 25 years of experience in industry, his previous role being that of Director of Finance, IT and Strategy for a European Division of Imerys Minerals, where his role was split between Brussels, Paris and the UK. Simon is a graduate Engineer and Chartered Accountant, who qualified with Coopers and Lybrand in 1988. Simon's career has encompassed both financial management and management consultancy positons. Simon's other roles include financial management positions at Carnon Holdings (Tin Mining) and South West Water locally, before becoming a Principal Consultant for Price Waterhouse in their London office.

Nigel Weaver – Divisional Manager – Feed & Forage
Graduate of the University of Wales
Nigel joined RHM Agriculture as a sales trainee and focused on the sales of ruminant livestock feeds. Through the acquisition of RHM by Dalgety, Nigel continued to develop his career in the south west of England with sales management posts in both arable and feeds businesses. At the time of the Bibby Agriculture purchase of Dalgety, Nigel was the Regional Sales Manager of the Dalgety West business covering South Wales and the South of England. Within Bibby Agriculture this role developed into Regional Sales Manager for the south of England controlling on farm sales of both the KW and Bibby brands.

Since joining Cornwall Farmers, Nigel has been heavily involved with the integration of the Countrywest sales team into Cornwall Farmers. Nigel now manages Cornwall Farmers’ £20million livestock division including sales, manufacturing and procurement of compound, blend and straights feed
together with overall responsibility for the Agricultural Sales Team.

 

Andrew Bolton – Divisional Manager – Arable
Andrew attended Shuttleworth Agricultural College in Bedfordshire and obtained his National Diploma in Agriculture. Before joining Cornwall Farmers 20 years ago he worked for Fison for a decade where he was involved in chemicals and fertilisers. Andrew’s responsibilities include the procurement and sales of crop protection, fertiliser, seed and other inputs for the arable and horticultural customer base.

 

Tim Coleridge – Divisional Manager – Machinery
Tim has 30 years of experience of the machinery industry both in agriculture and groundscare He previously served as General Manager for Bomford Turner, with responsibility for its worldwide operations. For the first 15 years, Tim spent his career operating in the West Country. He started his working life in sales before progressing to sales and marketing manager, territory manager and then to general management in companies including Deutz Fahr and Landmec in the Southwest.

 

Christopher Malcomson MBE – Divisional Manager - Retail
General Manager Retail Operations Christopher commenced his retail career with John Lewis as a Management Trainee in London. He later joined Habitat Designs and in a number of Senior Management roles saw the company grow to 60 stores nationwide and overseas. He worked for Sir Terence Conran on the conversion of the Heals Building, prior to overseeing Habitat's move to edge of town sites. Christopher, since 1992, has run a number of retail companies throughout the Middle East, culminating working for the MOD in developing retail sites, franchises and concessions on UK bases in Iraq for which he was awarded the MBE in 2005.

Since returning to the UK in 2007 and joining Cornwall Farmers, Christopher has restructured the Retail Operations and Category Management Functions. He has also undertaken significant operational efficiency initiatives to drive sales, improve profitability and develop his team to focus on customer service and development of the Cornwall Farmers brand.