Robin Horsfall

Former SAS soldier, Author & Veterans campaigner

Having followed an extraordinary lifepath, Robin’s extensive career both in and beyond the armed forces has given him valuable insights into “what makes people tick”.

From fighting on the frontline as an SAS Soldier and Royal Marine sniper, to attending to urgent medical needs as a paramedic, from establishing and teaching at his successful martial arts academy, to beating the medical odds – Robin, is well aware of the factors that keep people motivated, even in the face of challenges.

During his keynote, delegates will discover a fascinating life as Robin shares stories from his extensive military career, as well as his own personal experiences and how they relate to his underlying theme of overcoming adversity.

Heather Wildman

Heather founded her company, Saviour Associates in July 2014 just two years after completing a Nuffield Scholarship studying “Communication – influencing and motivating change”. Offering farmers, growers and agribusinesses advice and mentoring on a range of matters including leadership, succession and motivation, Heather is no stranger to the ag and ground care sectors.

Heather will be joining us at the conference to present on the matter of Succession Planning – an elephant in the room for many, we are sure delegates will be left feeling that this difficult subject can be easily managed and her breakout session on motivation and resilience is sure to provide some valuable take aways for all.

Renowned for her straight-talking, no-nonsense approach and for not being afraid of tackling difficult conversations we are sure Heather’s fun, relaxed manner and contagious, inspiring energy will leave delegates energized to put their learning into action.

Jeremy Gibbs

Jeremy Gibbs is the founder of Forces Farming – an organisation established to support the transition and resettlement of service personnel and veterans into agriculture, engineering and other areas of the agricultural industry.

Jeremy has spent his life in agriculture and most of this in agricultural engineering.

Following on from a childhood of growing up on farms and working in the industry, he spent 5 years in higher education before working for John Deere for almost a decade (working at the German office for seven years working and visiting countries around the world). Widening horizons and learning about the industry has given Jeremy a great insight into the ‘people' side of the job.

Jeremy decided to return to the UK and work back in ‘frontline farming’ for a few years before starting Forces Farming.

Originally an idea to help and guide people into the industry, Forces Farming now works with the industry to create career paths for service leavers and 'non ag new entrants' looking at changing careers.

A partnership with AGCO was launched in February 2022 to create a specific career path for people leaving the armed forces.

“Having a specific career path that works with veterans and service leavers makes a huge difference to the way we support new entrants as we recognise their existing skills and qualifications” said Jeremy.

This kind of focussed support is a new way of recruiting and retaining engineers in the industry.

Stuart Goodinson - Group Managing Director

Stuart was born and bred in rural Northumberland.

After leaving Seale Hayne, Stuart started his career as an agronomist, selling arable input supplies to farmers in Devon, he then moved on to sales management, sales director, business and project management across the arable, machinery, horticulture and dairy sector.

Stuart's last role before moving to De Lacy was as country manager UK, Ireland and South Africa for a global animal nutrition business.

Stuart's passion has always been for people and people development within business.

Grace Nugent - General Manager

Grace joined the De Lacy Executive team in 2011. She has worked her way up through the company and now manages the recruitment team, whilst still dealing with key clients.

Grace is a farmer's daughter, giving her a strong understanding of the agricultural sector.

The home farm is a mixed arable and sheep farm in Worcestershire in which she takes a very practical interest.

She has worked in New Zealand where she was in charge of running two stations. She graduated with a degree in Agricultural Business Management.

She thoroughly enjoys travelling, reading and the rural way of life.

Stuart and Grace will be joining us to share their insights into recruiting for the future.