Transparency data
Defra register of board members' interests 2022
Updated 23 October 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defra-register-of-board-members-interests/defra-register-of-board-members-interests-2021
Background
Defra’s departmental board members’ register of declared interests as of May 2022.
This list sets out the declared interests of executive and non-executive members of the Defra board. The Cabinet Office publishes a list of ministers’ interests separately.
Departmental board members are asked to declare any personal, business, or related party interests that may, or may be perceived by a reasonable member of the public to, influence their judgements in performing their obligations to the department.
The purpose of this list is to meet the requirements of section 6.4.3(e) of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2021 to 2022 and paragraph 4.15 of the Corporate governance in central departments: code of good practice.
The list is categorised into:
- remunerated
- shareholding
- unremunerated
- other
Register of interests: Non-Executive Directors
Henry Dimbleby, Lead Non-Executive Director
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest | Other relevant information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitch Tonks’ Rockfish Restaurants | Director and shareholder | Remunerated | |
| ProQuo AI | Advisory Board member | Remunerated | |
| Gemsstock, Capital Asset Management, and Stondon Ltd. | Shareholder | Shareholding | |
| Uncovered | Shareholder | Shareholding | A viral marketing company. |
| BlueCo Holdings | Shareholder | Shareholding | |
| The Sustainable Restaurant Association | Co-founder and Director | Unremunerated | |
| Chefs in Schools | Chair | Unremunerated | |
| Leon Restaurant Chain | Co-founder | Other: No longer a shareholder | |
| Daily Telegraph | Wife, under the name Jemima Lewis, is a columnist at the Daily Telegraph | Other: Family members’ interests | |
| Westmorland Limited | Non-Executive Director | Remunerated |
Colin Day, Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest |
|---|---|---|
| Meggitt Plc | Chair of the Audit Committee, Member of the Remuneration Committee | Remunerated |
| Premier Foods plc | Chairman | Remunerated | |
| FM Global Inc | Main Board member and member of finance and investment committees | Remunerated | |
| FM Insurance Europe SA | Main board member and member of audit committee | Remunerated | |
| Euromoney Plc | Chair of Audit Committee | Remunerated | |
| S4 Capital plc | Board Member & Non-Executive Director | Remunerated | |
| Council of the University of Cranfield | Member of Finance Committee, pro bono Adviser | Unremunerated | |
| MKU Ltd | Chairman | Unremunerated | |
| Flyglass Ltd | Secretary, Director | Unremunerated |
Elizabeth Buchanan, Non-Executive Director
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest | Other relevant information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waitrose | Special Adviser | Remunerated | |
| Saputo Dairy UK (formerly Dairy Crest) | Special Adviser | Remunerated | |
| McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd | Special Adviser | Remunerated | |
| The South of England Agricultural Society | President | Unremunerated | |
| The Prince’s Countryside Fund | Trustee | Unremunerated | |
| Smith Family Trust | Trustee | Unremunerated | |
| BBC Rural Affairs Committee | Member (since 2009) | Unremunerated | |
| Rare Breeds Survival Trust | Vice President | Unremunerated | |
| Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership | Senior associate | Unremunerated | |
| The Royal Agricultural Societies | Fellow | Unremunerated | |
| Winston Churchill Memorial Fund | Advisory Council member | Unremunerated | |
| Food and Farming Commission | Advisory Board member. | Unremunerated | |
| Heathfield and District Agricultural Society | Honorary Life Vice President | Unremunerated | |
| Laughton and District Agricultural Society | Honorary Vice President | Unremunerated | |
| Owns a farm in Sussex | Manages the family’s 200-acre organic livestock farm in East Sussex. Receives payments from Basic Payments and Countryside Stewardship Schemes. | Other | With rented land this comes to 350 acres, but BPS and CS is only received on family-owned land |
| East Sussex badger vaccination trial | A participant in the East Sussex badger vaccination trial for which Defra covers a part of the costs. | Other |
Lizzie Noel, Non-Executive Director
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest |
|---|---|---|
| Hemera Ltd | Director | Remunerated |
| Optimism Health Group Ltd | Senior adviser | Remunerated |
| Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford | Adviser for the Brainwaves Programme | Remunerated |
| Pitman Foundation | Chair and trustee | Unremunerated |
| Tribal Group plc. | Member of the founding team | Other: No longer a shareholder |
Register of interests: Ex-Officio members
Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest | Other relevant information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liontrust Asset Management plc | Non-Executive Director and shareholder | Remunerated and shareholding | ||
| Menhaden Resource Efficiency plc | Non-Executive Director and shareholder | Remunerated and shareholding | ||
| Own shares in the parent company of former employer Jupiter Fund Management Plc. | Shareholder | Shareholding | ||
| Thrive Renewables plc | Shareholder | Shareholding | ||
| Own shares in Menhaden plc | Shareholder | Shareholding | ||
| Menhaden Plc. (Investment Trust) | NED | Unremunerated | ||
| European Climate Foundation | Board Member | Unremunerated | ||
| The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Project | Trustee | Unremunerated | ||
| The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Project Asset Owner Network (AON) | Co-chair | Unremunerated | ||
| Green Finance Institute | Interim Chair and member of the Advisory Board | Unremunerated | ||
| UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment | Chair of the Advisory Board | Unremunerated | ||
| Cabinet Office Infrastructure Steering Group | Member of the steering group | Unremunerated | ||
| DIT Business of Resilience Taskforce | Member | Unremunerated | ||
| Land Use National Group | Member | Unremunerated | Brings together different voices around the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s ‘Land Use Framework for England’ and informs the practical implementation | |
| ICE Enabling Better Infrastructure | Member | Unremunerated | ||
| DfT Acceleration Unit Expert Panel | Panel Member | Unremunerated | ||
| Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI) | Co-Chair of the public sector steering committee | Unremunerated | ||
| Advisor to the Board of Trade | Advisor | Unremunerated | Department for International Trade affiliated position | |
| Wildlife Trusts | Member | Unremunerated | ||
| Green Alliance | Life member | Unremunerated | ||
| Kew Gardens | Member | Unremunerated | ||
| Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts | Member | Unremunerated | ||
| Global Ambassador United Nations’ Race to Zero and Race to Resilience | Ambassador | Unremunerated | ||
| National Trust | Husband is council member of National Trust | Other: family member’s interests |
Tony Juniper, Chairman of Natural England
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest | Other relevant information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Juniper.com Ltd | Director and shareholder | Remunerated | A private company, which is run to manage remunerated work with the University of Cambridge, adhoc speaking engagements and advisory work with the Union Bancaire Privee. |
| Sustainability Advisory Board for the BBC | Member | Unremunerated | |
| Cool Earth | Trustee | Unremunerated | A conservation non-governmental organisation |
| Friends of the Earth | Member | Unremunerated | |
| Greenpeace | Member | Unremunerated | |
| Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) | Member | Unremunerated | |
| Wildlife Trusts | Member | Unremunerated | |
| National Trust | Member | Unremunerated | |
| Butterfly Conservation | Member | Unremunerated |
Register of interests: Senior officials
Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest |
|---|---|---|
| Norwood | Trustee | Unremunerated |
| Trustee, JCOSS (Secondary school) | Trustee | Unremunerated |
| Trustee, Leadership Centre (Leadership Centre Fellows network charity) | Trustee | Unremunerated |
| Patron of the Wiener Holocaust Library | Patron | Unremunerated |
| Daniel Finkelstein, brother | member of House of Lords, Times columnist | Other: Family members’ interests |
Sarah Homer, Director General, Chief Operating Officer
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest |
|---|---|---|
| SSCL (government appointment) | Non-Executive Director | Unremunerated |
Heather Smith, Defra group Finance Director
| Name of company or organisation | Position held | Type of interest |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer governor at Morley College | Governor | Unremunerated |
Lucy Smith, Director General for Strategy and Change
No interests declared