Our Trustees
The Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for The Country Food Trust and provides the directorate with a breadth of experience and expertise.
Rt Hon Sir Brandon Lewis CBE
Chair
Sir Brandon is a former British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022.
Andrew Stone
Trustee & Founding Member
Andrew is a graduate of The European Business School. His career started in 1993 at ED & F Man, where he served in various senior and Board roles within the Company. Andrew left Man in 2006 and is Managing Partner of St Albans Capital LLP, the Stone family investment management vehicle.
Andrew is a keen skier and enjoys field sports. He divides his time between London and Gloucestershire with his wife and four children.
SJ Radford
Trustee & Hon Treasurer
SJ Radford is a Chartered Accountant and has over twenty-five years’ experience working in accountancy and international business management. She worked with public, private and entrepreneurial firms.
After 23 years abroad, SJ moved back to the UK in May 2012. On her return, she completed a Diploma Course in Charity Accounting and Financial Management at CASS Business School.
Amanda Skinner
Trustee
Amanda decided that wine was going to become her profession in the vineyards of Champagne working as the “jeune fille” at Moët’s Château de Saran. Returning to London, John Armit asked her to join his business, where she worked in a series of roles, ending up as Managing Director. A move to her husband’s family farm in Norfolk in 2005 led to two year consultancy with Lay & Wheeler and, in January 2008, she became a director of Private Cellar.
Amanda focuses on developing new business, educating on wine and advising on the creation of investment and drinking portfolios for her clients worldwide.
Mark French
Trustee
Mark is a Royal Agricultural College graduate and a successful Farmer/Landowner with 35 years of experience in mixed farming. He diversified into Whisky Distillery, Farm Shop, Beef/Venison processing, and supplied prestigious outlets like Harrods, Harvey Nicholls, Jenners, and La Fayette.
Now in the Scottish Borders for seven years, he manages a sporting estate with fishing and a holiday business on the Tweed River. Passionate about fieldsports and promoting game, he supports The Country Food Trust (CFT) in Scotland to maximise its impact in helping to feed those in need.
Sir Charles Walker KBE
Trustee
Sir Charles is a British politician who served as chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire since 2005.
Stephen Gillespie
Trustee
Stephen Gillespie, a solicitor with 40 years’ experience in-house and in private practice, is General Counsel of LetterOne, a private industrial holding company with USD 22 billion of assets under management, with responsibility for all legal, risk, regulatory and compliance matters across the group.
Born (in 1962) and educated in Northern Ireland and at Trinity College, University of Oxford and The College of Law in Guildford, he was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1987 and to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland in 2017.
Stephen is a member of the Finance Committees of Ripon College, Cuddesdon and St. Albans Cathedral. He has four adult daughters and lives in Hertfordshire and in North Devon.