The Executive Board

Making it happen

The Executive Board takes the strategy set by our Main Board and makes it happen, running the business on a day-to-day basis.

Graeme Beattie (managing director) joined Branston in 1982. Graeme was instrumental in gaining the Tesco account in 1990 and has overseen the development and growth of the business including a number of strategic acquisitions.

Julie McTurk (finance director) joined us in 1993. She is responsible for all financial and legal matters within the company and combines this with the role of company secretary.

Mark Willcox (development director) joined us from McKinsey & Company in 2003, after having led a 16-week lean production transformation project for us. He’s responsible for our continuous improvement and innovation, as well as overseeing our Prepared Foods division.

Richard Clark (commercial director) came to us in 1989. He oversees the planning and procurement of all of our potatoes, and is responsible for developing sales. He also sits on the Potato Council Market Information Committee and Potato Council Grower Panel Working Group.

David Nelson (field director) has been giving our growers technical advice and agronomy services since 1990. He also sits on the Potato Council Research and Development Committee and the Tesco Nurture Technical Advisory Committee.

Jo Parish (Tesco account director) joined us as a graduate in 1991 and, after a period as a potato buyer, took over responsibility for managing the commercial aspects of running the Tesco account. She is also responsible for PR and Marketing.

Simon Telfer (HR and logistics director) started working with us in 1996. After a period managing the South West factory, he took on responsibility for Human Resources and Logistics.

Nick Turnbull (technical & operations director) joined us in 1993 after completing his PhD. He’s now responsible for quality, technical standards and production across all of our sites, for fresh potatoes and Prepared foods.

Vidyanath (Vee) Gururajan (projects director) joined us in 2005 as a development engineer and was promoted to the Executive Board in 2009. Vee is responsible for major capital expenditure projects and IT throughout the business and ensuring that sustainability is built in to all our developments.

• Who we are
  • The Main Board
  • The Executive Board
  • The Branston team
• What we do
  • For our suppliers
  • For our customers
  • For our consumers
• Where we do it
  • Lincoln
  • South West
  • Scotland
  • Prepared Foods
• How we do it