Trustees
These are the Trustees of The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust
Below is a list of individual trustees and the Secretary.
Aled Jones
Aled is NFU Cymru President. He is an eighth-generation farmer who runs a pedigree herd of Holsteins with his son. Aled has previously held a variety of positions across the industry, including holding the post of Chairman of milk recording company Cattle Information Services (CIS) for seven years and being a trustee of Holstein UK for eight years.
Christine Kennedy OBE
Christine Kennedy is a Non-Executive Director of NFU Mutual. She is a partner in her family’s farm business in County Down. Christine was previously the Director of Commodities and Food for the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) and a co-opted member of the UFU Board. She has also acted as an Independent Assessor for PricewaterhouseCoopers for appointments to the Policing Community Safety Partnership and for the Commissioner of Public Appointments in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She has been an Independent Panel Member for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Peace Projects, Rural Development and Review Panels. She is a director of Countryside Services Ltd, a member of the NI Food Advisory Committee for the Food Standards Agency, a member of the UFU and a Trustee of the Donaghadee Young Farmers Club. Christine was awarded an O.B.E in 2006 for services to the dairy industry and agriculture in Northern Ireland.
David Brown
David Brown is President of Ulster Farmers Union. He is a suckler beef and sheep farmer from Florencecourt, County Fermanagh. A past chair of Fermanagh Grassland Club, David remains passionate about grassland management. Within the UFU David previously represented the south west group on the beef and lamb committee. During two years as County Chairman David represented farmer’s concerns throughout the extreme flooding of 2015/16 and the subsequent Rivers Agency review. Co opted on to the UFU Management Board in 2016. Appointed to represent the red meat sector on the CAFRE College Advisory Group in 2017, David was elected as UFU Deputy President in 2018 and UFU President in April, 2022.
Jim Creechan - Secretary to the Trustees
Jim qualified as a solicitor in Scotland in private practice and has since worked for a number of major companies, including Tarmac Construction, Massey Fergusson and, Sharp, the Japanese electronics group. He is also qualified as an English solicitor and has an honours and a masters degree in law. He has experience of a wide range of corporate and commercial law matters and in addition to his role as Secretary to the Trustees he is NFU Mutual’s Group Head of Legal and Company Secretary.
Jim McLaren
Jim was appointed to NFU Mutual Board in 2012 and appointed Chairman in 2019. He served as President of NFU Scotland from 2007 to 2011, having served previously as the organisation’s Milk Committee Chairman before becoming Vice President in 2006. Jim was Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland Limited and is a former Director of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC). Jim is a mixed beef and arable farmer from Perthshire in Central Scotland.
Martin Kennedy
Martin is President of NFU Scotland. He is a is a tenant farmer in Aberfeldy, Highland Perthshire. They have 600 ewes and 60 cows on the farm rising from 800ft to 2,500ft. Martin has served as Highland Perthshire Branch chair and represented East Central region on the LFA committee.
Meurig Raymond M.B.E
Meurig is president of the NFU of England & Wales and is one if its representatives on the Charitable Trust. His farm in Pembrokeshire grows 2,200 acres of combinable crops and 300 acres of potatoes. The farm also has dairy cows, beef cattle and store lambs. Meurig represented Wales on the Home Grown Cereals Authority between 1997 and 2004 and he served on the Council of Food from Britain between 1997 and 2003. He became a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society in 2000 and was awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours in January 2005 for his services to agriculture.
Minette Batters
Minette is the NFU President of England & Wales. She runs a tenanted family farm in Wiltshire; a mixed farming business that includes cow, sheep and arable. Diversification includes the conversion of a 17th Century tythe barn into a wedding and corporate events venue, and horse liveries. Minette co-founded the campaigning initiatives 'Ladies in Beef' and the 'Great British Beef Week'. She is also a Trustee of Farm Africa.
Nick Turner
Nick was appointed Group Chief Executive of NFU Mutual in 2021 and is responsible for managing the conduct of the Group’s business. He joined NFU Mutual’s Board as Sales and Agency Director in 2013 from AXA where he spent 27 years in a wide variety of marketing and strategy roles across life, general insurance and global partnerships for the AXA Group. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Nick is a former President of the Chartered Insurance Institute and was previously President of the Personal Finance Society.