John will take over from The Rt Hon Michael Jack CBE – ex Fylde MP, former Chair of Topps Tiles plc and Chairman of Gs Fresh Produce- who retires from the role on 1 January 2020.

John Pain worked for The Wendy’s Company from 2011 to 2019 as Managing Director for Asia Pacific and Middle East (APME), doubling its restaurant count and entering new markets including Kuwait, India and Japan.

With a degree in Agricultural Economics from Newcastle University and an MBA from the University of Leicester, John has a background in marketing with leading UK brands such as Sainsbury’s, Nabisco and Diageo.

His career in International Quick Service Restaurants began in 1994 at KFC GB followed by assignments as Marketing Director for Yum! Brands in the Middle East, South Africa, Asia Pacific and VP of Marketing at Taco Bell. He returned to the UK for four years in 2007, as Marketing Director of the GBP2Bn Compass Group UK & Ireland business, before returning to the international arena with Wendy’s in 2011.

Cotswold Hills dry white wine is harvested at the RAU’s vineyard in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, with students involved throughout the process from grape to shop shelf.

Buyers from Midcounties, the UK’s largest independent co-operative, said the wine ‘pairs brilliantly with turkey’ and that it chose the new canned version of the drink because of its sustainability credentials and its stocking-filler size. It will retail alongside a bottled version, which it praised for its branding featuring the famous Cotswolds brown hare drawn by RAU alumnus Sophie Cotton.

The ripe grapes have been handpicked ever since the University took over the tenancy of the 2.6 hectare vineyard in 2016.

Led by the University of Bristol, with support from Bristol Vet School and the RAU, the new Global Animal Welfare Assurance (GAWA) scheme launched on World Animal Day (4 October).

GAWA aims to share knowledge and best practice with farmers and food businesses to increase the proportion of animals farmed to high-welfare standards.

Funded by the Farm Animal Welfare Forum and Tubney Charitable Trust, the initiative has been developed with scientific support from the Bristol Vet School and the RAU and is an alliance of five experienced and trusted higher welfare assurance schemes. They comprise the Soil Association (UK), RSPCA Assured (UK), Beter Leven (NL), Global Animal Partnership (USA) and SPCA Blue Tick (NZ).

Together, the alliance offers the following services and benefits on the intersection between animal welfare, farming practices and auditing processes:

• sharing experience, knowledge and best practice with membership organisations;
• helping with the set up and development of animal welfare assurance systems;
• offering consultancy to businesses to deliver on animal welfare pledges.

Professor David Main, Professor of Production Animal Health and Welfare at the RAU, said: “This alliance of higher-welfare schemes is a significant global initiative that can help consumers and the food supply chain source products from animals that have had an opportunity for a good life.”

Dr Siobhan Mullan, European Specialist in Animal Welfare Science at Bristol Vet School and one of the initiative’s leads, added: “This is a fantastic initiative which brings together like-minded higher welfare farm assurance schemes with the aim to improve the lives of farmed animals all over the world. By sharing best practice and expertise it is expected that Global Animal Welfare Assurance will facilitate the development of authentically higher-welfare schemes based on science-led standards, and ensure the validity of welfare claims made by food businesses.”

If you are a higher-welfare scheme that would like to join the alliance, are considering developing a higher-welfare system or are business looking for assistance in delivering higher animal welfare commitments, please get in touch. Contact: info@gawassurance.org

The Red Hemp-nettle’s (Galeopsis angustifolia) distinctive twin flowers were a common sight 60 years ago. Now herbicides, fertilisers, and the spread of highly productive crop varieties have seen it almost disappear from our fields.

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been selected by Plantlife, Europe’s largest wildflower conservation charity, as a partner in its Red Hemp-nettle reintroduction experiment, part of Natural England’s biggest ever species conservation initiative, Back From The Brink.

Work began in April when 27,000 seeds from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Millennium Seed Bank were sown in experimental plots under organic production, at the University’s Harnhill Farm, just outside Cirencester.

The event doubled in size from 2018 with twenty four stalls in total. Eight enterprises on show from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) included its own Muddy Wellies beer and Cotswold Hills dry white wine, as well as businesses ranging from clothing to marketing services. The market is organised by Cirencester Town Council and the E4 Group, consisting of the RAU, Cirencester College, Deer Park and Kingshill schools, which supports and encourages young enterprise.

UNITEL is funding six talented Angolan students, selected from over 500 applicants, to follow a programme of postgraduate training at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester.

The first intake started their studies on the RAU’s Graduate Diploma in Agriculture course in September last year, gaining expert knowledge and farm management experience along with the skills to train others once back in Angola.

Known as “The Rural List Cirencester” and associated with The Liquid List – a well-established veterans’ networking series – it will develop into monthly events at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) for both veterans and employers from across the rural economy.

The initiative, which is the only sector-specific veteran networking event in the country, is the brainchild of Fiona Galbraith, a former army officer and postgraduate student of the RAU from 2017 to 2018.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) toured the University’s Rural Innovation Centre (RIC) at its Harnhill Manor farm, where he heard about the range of practical programmes on offer for both professionals and students, such as courses in calf-rearing and the safe use of medicines on farms.

The importance of farm animal welfare was emphasised, with Mr Gove learning about Professor David Main’s work on welfare assessment and RAU’s Buitelaar dairy bull calf-rearing project involving academics, industry and welfare organisations working in partnership. PhD student Emily Edwards, described research that is underway to address the significant challenges facing the dairy bull calf rearing sector, including antibiotic usage.

The strong emphasis the University places on developing leadership and business skills and entrepreneurial acumen was showcased during a visit to its Trent Lodge site.

Mr Gove met business consultant and Honorary Fellow Christine Cross who mentors students as part of the University’s award-winning Enterprise Programme, which provides an inspiring and supportive environment in which students can share, develop and launch their ideas.