The Prince's Countryside Fund

Mark Price, Managing Director, Waitrose and Chairman of The Prince’s Countryside Fund Trustee Board

Mark Price was appointed Managing Director, Waitrose in April 2007, and is responsible for over 200 Waitrose shops of the John Lewis Partnership. He became Chair of The Prince’s Rural Action Leadership Team in January 2009. Mark joined the Partnership on the Graduate Training Scheme in 1982, before becoming Managing Director of John Lewis High Wycombe and then John Lewis Cheadle. He transferred to Waitrose in February 1998 as the Partnership’s first Marketing Director, Immediately prior to his current role, Mark had been at John Lewis since 2005, in the roles Managing Director, Partnership Development and John Lewis Development Director.

Mark Allen, Chief Executive, Dairy Crest

Mark Allen has been with Dairy Crest for nearly 18 years; during this time he has progressed from business unit Managing Director to CEO. He was appointed to the Board in 2002 and became CEO at the end of 2006. He is also The Chairman of Dairy UK, the industry research body. Mark has a law degree and previously worked in retail with Shell UK.

Edwin Booth, Executive Chairman, EH Booth & Co

Edwin represents the fifth generation of the family that has operated the Booths supermarket business since 1847, and became Executive Chairman in 1997. Edwin has worked closely with the Lancashire Universities in the areas of leadership and business change programmes and is presently chairing the Business in the Community (BITC) Advisory Board for the North West which is developing a programme of engagement between businesses and the educational establishment in areas of particular need throughout the North West.

Elizabeth Buchanan, Consultant and Farmer

Elizabeth was, until December 2009, the Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. In addition to managing Their Royal Highnesses’ public life, she was also responsible for His Royal Highness’s work on the environment, agricultural and his relations with the business community. She worked for Their Royal Highnesses for over ten years. Prior to that, Elizabeth worked at Bell Pottinger and as a special adviser to two Secretaries of State for Transport. Elizabeth now works part-time as a special adviser to the Bell Pottinger Group, as a special adviser to Waitrose and she remains a consultant to The Prince of Wales. The remainder of her time is spent managing the family’s organic farm in East Sussex.

Lord Curry of Kirkharle, Chairman, NFU Mutual

Lord Curry brings a wealth of knowledge about agricultural issues to the Trustee Board. He has been a board member of the NFU Mutual Insurance Company since 1997 and has been Chairman since June 2003. In 2009 he became Chair of the Leckford Estate Management Committee – the Waitrose Farm. He chaired the Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food reporting to Government in January 2002 and was responsible for overseeing the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food until March 2009. Lord Curry was awarded a CBE for his services to Agriculture in the 1997 New Year’s Honours list, a Knighthood in the Birthday Honours in 2001 and enobled in 2011.

Stephen Dunmore, Chairman, Capacitybuilders

Stephen Dunmore is currently chair of Capacitybuilders, of National Family Mediation and of the BBC’s Advisory Committee on Charitable Appeals, and a member of the NCVO’s Funding Commission. Previously, he was chief executive of the New Opportunities Fund from 1998 to 2004 and of the Big Lottery Fund from 2004 to 2008, and a member of the Government’s Urban Green Spaces Task Force, the Government’s Cleaner, Safer, Greener Advisory Board and the Commission on the Future of Volunteering. Between February and August 2009, he was interim chief executive of The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. His interests are archaeology, cricket, walking, theatre and, professionally, education and community regeneration.

Sue Huggins, Director of Network Development, The Post Office Ltd.

Sue originally trained as a nurse at the Westminster Hospital in London and, after a brief spell working abroad, joined the Post Office in 1980. Having completed her Masters at Kent in 1998, Sue was appointed Director – Sales & Marketing, Network Bank, and then Executive Director – Strategy, Post Office Ltd. With a keen interest in rural issues, Sue jumped at the chance to manage the 8,100 strong network of rural post offices when the company reorganised in 2001. She is now in charge of network development activity nationwide. Sue also sits on the Pub is the Hub Steering Group and is a Trustee of The Rowland Hill Fund and has two children.

Lizzie Kershaw, Group Director of Publishing, National Magazine Company

As well as a strong understanding of rural issues from her time on The Prince’s Rural Action Leadership Team, Lizzie also brings a strong media and communications background to the Trustee Board. Lizzie began her career at The National Magazine Company in 1982 at Good Housekeeping magazine. Since then Lizzie has been Publishing Director of Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan Groups, and Executive Group Publishing Director, Affluent Group. In 1993 Lizzie was appointed to the Board of NatMag. In 2002 Lizzie was appointed Executive Group Publishing Director, Good Housekeeping and Country Living Group, in 2007 appointed Executive Group Publishing Director of Women’s Interest Group magazines.

Paul Murphy, CEO, Jordans & Ryvita

For the last two years Paul Murphy has been the CEO of the Jordans Ryvita Company. Before that he was responsible for the Twinings business in the UK, North America and Australia. Before his time in Associated British Foods he worked for Bacardi Ltd and Reckitt Benckiser. He began his career in the marketing function. He has lived and worked in both France and the US, and has had both local and international roles. For the past 4 years, Paul has been a Non-Executive Director on the board of St Georges NHS Trust, in South West London. Paul is married and has four small children.

Brian Stein, Group Chief Executive, Samworth Brothers

Brian gained a taste for the food industry in the 1970s during holiday work as a biscuit packer and QA Inspector while studying Business at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. An interest in people and a desire to change the “them and us” attitude prevalent in the food industry at the time led him into management with Bowyers. He then joined Northern Foods, eventually becoming managing director of Pork Farms and subsequently joined the Northern Foods Executive, before seeking a fresh entrepreneurial challenge at the Leicestershire-based food manufacturer Samworth Brothers in 1995.

Princes Countryside Fund

Trustees