Development Board

Our Development Board is made up of subject matter experts, some of whom are associated with the process of transition from military to civilian life and others who have a wide knowledge of rural industries.

We are delighted that Jon Perkins has agreed to chair the Development Board to provide a link to the Board of Trustees. You can see his bio here.

Zoe Elliott

Zoe has worked in the racing industry for 20 years and is currently the Head of Careers Marketing & Recruitment at the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), leading the Careers Marketing Strategy for the horseracing industry via the ‘careersinracing’ brand and marketing campaigns. Graduating from Coventry University in 1996 with an Equine Business Degree and subsequently a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing, she started her career in racing at the BHA running marketing campaigns from Racehorse Ownership Marketing to ‘Racegoer’ marketing. Zoe then spent ten years as a freelance consultant working for a variety of racing governing bodies, trade associations, charities and commercial organisations handling a wide range of marketing projects, before returning to the BHA in her current role. Having competed across a number equestrian of disciplines in her spare time and generally being involved with horses since childhood she has many contacts across a range of equestrianism beyond horseracing and is passionate about communicating the opportunities to work in this sector from every angle from, groundsman and gardeners to event logistics to broadcast engineers!

Matt Evans

Matt served in the Royal Marines for a total of 10 years, with operational tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

On leaving the military he qualified as a tree surgeon and worked in both employed and self-employed arborist climber and team leader roles.  Having completed both practical chainsaw qualifications and his Level 4 Diploma in Arboriculture, Matt is now lead trainer and LOLER inspector at Hi-Line, a large arboricultural company based in the South West.

Working for Hi-Line’s training division, Hi-Line Training, Matt’s role includes training and assessing ground and aerial chainsaw courses, delivering arborist/forestry first aid courses, LOLER examination of climbing equipment and developing new courses and workshops.

Having transitioned from life in the Marines to establishing an outdoor based career in arboriculture Matt is passionate about encouraging service leavers to explore the opportunities available within tree work.

In his spare time, Matt attempts to grow bonsai trees, enjoys exploring Dartmoor on his motorbike and is a keen rock climber and canoeist.

Robert Honan

Jonny Kerr

Jonny is a Farm Manager for Velcourt and manages two farms in Wiltshire totalling nearly 1000 hectares of arable land. Prior to this, he was an infantry officer in the British Army for 9 years, serving in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. His military career gave him a unique experience of leadership and management which he is now applying to agriculture – both on the farms he manages and the committees he serves on.

The farms he manages grow feed wheat and barley, malting spring barley, rye and maize for AD and break crops of OSR, marrow fat peas and winter beans. One of the farms includes some down-land that is let out for grazing by cattle and sheep as part of an HLS scheme. They operate min-till, no-till and inversion tillage depending on the soil, weather conditions and cropping. The farms cover a wide variety of soils from Pewsey Vale green sand through sandy clay and into chalky loams. The sand and clay soils require a lot of patience and the right strategy for the season and cropping.  Jonny has also introduced some cover cropping and is combining them with a no-till system to see what benefits the strategy brings to the soil, crops and business. He will be measuring the soil’s “health” over the months and years to monitor the changes.

To prepare himself for a career in agriculture he completed a Graduate Diploma in Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester and completed the Velcourt Management Training Scheme including FACTS and BASIS while in his first job as an assistant farm manager in Cambridgeshire. He is on the committee of the Wiltshire branch of the CLA as well a HighGround’s Development Board.

Prior to his farming career he was an officer in the British Army serving in The Black Watch. During his time in the Army he served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan as a platoon commander where he experienced front-line combat which gave him a unique experience of leadership and management. Jonny’s military career taught him the value of training, planning, writing effective policy and procedures, effective communication but, above all, the true value of people. It is these experiences and lessons that he aims to bring to agriculture for the benefit of Velcourt and British farming.

Kirsty McNicol

Having worked in the arboriculture industry for 15 years, Kirsty’s current role is Training & LOLER Manager at Hi-Line, a role that includes managing Hi-Line Training, the companies independent training division.

As part of Hi-Line’s Senior Management Team, Kirsty has extensive HR experience, having implemented, developed and managed the company’s HR department before taking the opportunity to focus on establishing and expanding the training side of the business.

Passionate about promoting the diverse opportunities within arboriculture, Kirsty is also a member of the Arboricultural Association’s Media and Communications Committee.

Having recently completed her Level 2 in Arboriculture, Kirsty is currently studying for her Forest School Leader qualification.

Kirsty enjoys spending her time outdoors in woodlands, gardens or by the sea.

View Kirsty’s profile on LinkedIn.

Chris Shepherd

Chris works closely with HighGround in co-ordinating the delivery and content of Rural Weeks run out of Bicton College.

Chris has worked in education for 28 years since graduating in 1991 from Seale Hayne Agriculture College in Newton Abbot, Devon. He has always had a passion for the land based sector with his mother being from a farming family and his father a Veterinary Surgeon. During his career within the Cornwall College Group, incorporating Bicton College and Duchy College, he has lectured in Agriculture and Farm Business management. In his role as Work Based Learning Manager he was responsible for the College’s delivery of Apprenticeship programmes across the Land Based Sector. Main accomplishments include, achieving a Grade 1 Outstanding award across all Work Based Learning Measures in the OFSTED inspection of May 2010, representing Landex (association of Land Based Colleges across the UK) on the employer management group in developing the new Apprenticeship standards, and having a strong record of  designing training and education programmes with employers across the sector.

Chris and his wife Angela have recently celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary.  They live in West Cornwall and have two sons, Robert 18 and Daniel 16. Hobbies include gardening and walking with Bailey the labrador.

Simon West OBE

An outdoorsman at heart, Simon spent his early years camping, mountain climbing, riding horses, hunting and studying Zoology at Royal Holloway College.

His career in the Army involved many more nights under canvas across the world with tours in Belize, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan, the Falklands and  most recently a fascinating time living in Latvia with travel across Eastern Europe. He specialised in gun technology and strategic communication.

Simon is now the Executive Director of the Gun Trade Association providing UK registered firearms dealers support in promoting, protecting and representing the industry. He is also the Chairman of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers’ Certification Panel, examining the work of apprentices in the craft of gunmaking.

A keen open water swimmer, game fisherman and shot, he is a member of a small walked-up shoot and a MOD deer manager. He runs his own gun making business specialising in bronze cannon.

The following subject areas will be represented on the Development Board:

Agriculture
Arboriculture
Assistance Dogs
Conservation
Countryside & Environment
Career Transition Partnership
Fishing & Country Sports
Forestry
Horticulture
Land Based Work Experience
Military Charity Liaison
Bicton College/Rural Weeks
Professional Career Development Inc Standards & Quality as well as Work Experience
Railways
Research
Reservists
Rural Skills Training
Scotland
Viticulture & Cider Making
Wales