New NFST chairmen elected
Piloting the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust over the next two years is a brand new team of JACK WARD and STEPHEN WATKINS, who were appointed Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, at the 2009 AGM.
"Working across a range of industries, one thing that strikes me is the different emphasis which industries place on investing into an individual," commented Jack. "For some companies, investment into its human capital is second nature. But for agriculture this is often more difficult. "In a capital hungry industry, the pressure for new investment in machinery, buildings and stock is intense. Consequently, investing in yourself is often lower down the list of pressing priorities.
"Nuffield offers the opportunity to put this right by investing in you and your future. It provides a chance to move outside the confines and constraints of your day-to-day business and explore new avenues and ideas anywhere in the world. It provides an opportunity to challenge yourself, understand your full potential and then hopefully sets you on a path to realising that potential.
"There aren't many other organisations which offer this exciting development opportunity, and this is one of the reasons why Nuffield is such a unique and worthwhile experience."
Jack Ward
A 2004 Scholar, Jack is currently CEO of City & Guilds NPTC which is the largest provider of vocational qualifications to the land based sector. Jack is also part of the senior management team for the City & Guilds Group which is the largest provider of vocational qualifications in the UK and overseas, with an extensive operation in 80 different countries.
Prior to joining City & Guilds NPTC as its CEO, Jack was Regional Director for the NFU in the East Midlands for nine years and before that he ran one of the NFU's head office operations when it was based in London. Having worked for the NFU since leaving Seale Hayne in 1982, Jack's claim to fame is that he has pretty much been at the forefront of every major agricultural crisis affecting the last generation.
He is married and has two teenage daughters.
Jack Ward - profile 
Stephen Watkins
A 2002 Scholar, Stephen returned to the family farm in Worcestershire after graduating from the RAC and a gap year working principally in Australia and Canada.
Farming in partnership with his wife, Sarah, they took over the 500-acre farm in 1994, when they also started to share machinery with a neighbouring farmer. Today, this has developed into a business occupying 2,500 acres, working with seven main co-partners, growing fourteen different crops and a further eight partners involved with livestock and diversification enterprises.
Stephen represents the CLA at a county and national level, and also stands on the NFU's Horticultural & Potato Board. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers and was awarded an Associateship of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2009. As well as a trustee, he is a selector for the NFST.
Stephen Watkins - profile
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