The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has appointed the NFU’s head of food and farming, Phil Bicknell, as its new market intelligence director to help deliver more impact and value for levy payers.
Mr Bicknell (picrtured above) will join AHDB in early 2017 to head a 60-strong team of market and data specialists, charged with providing UK agricultural businesses with high quality, independent market data, analysis and insight to help them make better informed business decisions.
Welcoming the new director, AHDB’s chief strategy officer, Tom Hind, said the challenges of the future, ranging from market volatility to Brexit, required a “step change” in the board’s work. In this context, he said that Mr Bicknell’s planned arrival will add “real depth of experience” to help take the organisation’s service to the next level.
Prior to his time with the NFU, Mr Bicknell has worked in agri-economic/food roles for the British Potato Council, the USDA and Bidwell’s.
“In a fast-changing world, the role of information and insight is increasingly critical to levy payers,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to taking up the role, working with the broader AHDB team and ensuring our market intelligence expertise delivers for levy-payers’ businesses.”