One of the greatest privileges of working in executive search in agriculture, horticulture and fresh produce is receiving messages like this.
Recently, we helped place a Farm Manager with a highly respected farming business, where he will succeed a long-serving manager after more than 30 years in the role. It is a significant appointment, not only for the business but also for the individual and his family as they prepare for an exciting new chapter.
Shortly before starting his new position, we received this message:
“Thank you for your help in securing my new Farm Manager role. As our move gets closer, my family and I are excited about this new chapter. To make it even better, I’ve also passed my BASIS qualification before starting, which gives me real confidence going into the role. Thank you again for all your support throughout the process.”
Messages like this remind us that recruitment is about far more than simply filling a vacancy.
Behind every appointment is a person taking the next step in their career, a family preparing for change, and a business placing its trust in someone to help shape its future.
In this case, our candidate not only secured an outstanding opportunity but also achieved his BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection before taking up the role. That commitment to professional development speaks volumes about the type of individual he is, and we have every confidence he will build on the excellent legacy left by his predecessor.
At Redfox Executive Selection, we are proud to work with businesses that invest in people and with candidates who are prepared to invest in themselves.
Helping to bring those two together is why we do what we do.
To our candidate, congratulations once again. We wish you and your family every success in your new role, and we look forward to following your journey in the years ahead.
Great Board appointments rarely begin with a vacancy. They begin with a conversation. Over recent months, at Redfox we have had great success promoting highly respected industry leaders across our network, leading to new Board appointments, strategic introductions and exciting conversations.
It got me thinking…
Why wait for a client to ask us to find exceptional Board-level talent when we could already know who that talent is? That’s why we’re now inviting expressions of interest for the Redfox Board Talent Network.
An exclusive network of experienced leaders from agriculture, horticulture, fresh produce, food and agri-tech who are interested in opportunities including Chair, Non-Executive Director, Advisory Board, strategic adviser, mentoring and speaking engagements.
Through Redfox, your confidential profile could be introduced to our extensive UK and international client base and promoted across our industry network of more than 26,000 LinkedIn connections and 80,000+ Facebook followers.
If you feel you still have plenty to offer in the boardroom and would like to be considered, I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Contact the Redfox team for a confidential conversation.
For more than 24 years, Redfox has been helping businesses across agriculture, horticulture, fresh produce and food appoint exceptional leaders. Executive Search remains at the heart of what we do.
But increasingly, we’re asking our clients a different question.
What if the best solution isn’t recruiting another employee?
Sometimes a business needs an experienced Chair to provide strategic direction. Sometimes it’s a Non-Executive Director to bring independent thinking and challenge. Sometimes it’s a trusted adviser, a commercial partner or simply an introduction to someone who could unlock the next stage of growth.
Those opportunities rarely come from advertising. They come from relationships.
The Value of a Trusted Network
Over the past two decades, we’ve built strong relationships with business owners, growers, retailers, investors, researchers, agri-tech innovators and industry leaders throughout the UK and internationally.
That network is one of Redfox’s greatest strengths. Sometimes our role is to identify the perfect candidate for a leadership position.
Other times, it’s simply making the right introduction at the right time.
Beyond Executive Search
Increasingly, businesses are asking us to help with far more than recruitment.
They are looking for:
Chairs
Non-Executive Directors
Advisory Board members
Strategic advisers
Commercial introductions
Investor connections
Technical specialists
International contacts
Often, those introductions create opportunities that extend far beyond a single recruitment assignment.
Relationships That Create Opportunity
At Redfox, we believe the best executive search firms do more than fill vacancies.
They build relationships.
They open doors.
They connect exceptional people with exceptional businesses.
Whether you’re looking to appoint a senior leader, strengthen your board or simply explore a strategic introduction, we’d be delighted to have a confidential conversation.
Because sometimes the right introduction is every bit as valuable as the right appointment.
One of the great privileges of working in executive search is that, occasionally, you build relationships that span entire careers.
This week we successfully placed a fantastic individual into another senior role.
After accepting the position, he sent us a message that genuinely made us smile.
“Thanks Max. I have worked out that you have placed me 25 years apart. Is this a record for you? Redfox have also placed me three times. Is there a loyalty card scheme I should be a member of?” 😄
The reality is there isn’t a loyalty card.
There is simply something far more valuable…
Trust.
Over the years we’ve watched careers develop, businesses evolve and industries change. Some people we’ve helped once. Others twice. Occasionally three times…and, in this case, over a period of twenty-five years.
We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to trust Redfox with one of the biggest decisions they’ll ever make – appointing great people or taking the next step in their own career.
Those long-term relationships are something we never take for granted.
If you’re looking to strengthen your leadership team, or you’re considering your own next career move within agriculture, horticulture or fresh produce, we’d love to have a conversation.
Over the past few days, one announcement has stood out above almost everything else: the publication of the Government’s new DEFRA Farming Roadmap.
Whatever your views on the detail, I think there is one thing we can all agree on.
Our sectors need confidence. Confidence to invest. Confidence to innovate. Confidence to recruit. Confidence to build businesses that will still be thriving in 10, 20 and 30 years’ time.
The roadmap talks about productivity, innovation, robotics, AI, skills, fairer supply chains, environmental resilience and the future of horticulture. It also provides longer-term certainty for the Seasonal Worker Scheme and places renewed emphasis on technology and collaboration.
But as I was reading it, I found myself thinking about something else.
None of these ambitions happen without people. The farm manager prepared to embrace change. The grower investing in new technology. The engineer designing the next generation of machinery. The commercial leader opening new markets. The graduate choosing a career in agriculture. The breeder, agronomist, picker, packer, researcher, technician and business owner who quietly keeps our food system moving every single day.
At Redfox Executive Selection, we see first-hand how transformational the right person can be for a business.
And through our Beanstalk.Global – People of the Land – initiative, we’re meeting remarkable individuals whose stories deserve to be heard far beyond our own industries.
Technology will undoubtedly shape the future. But people will define it. Let’s continue investing in both. Because behind every innovation… …there is always a person with an idea.
Unlocking Global Talent in Agriculture – The roles exist. The talent is missing and we are fixing that. We’ve just announced a new collaboration between Redfox Executive Selection and Agri Frontier and it’s built around a very real and significant challenge.
Across international agriculture, the opportunities are there. The investment is there. The projects are moving forward. But one thing keeps holding progress back… access to the right leadership talent at an international level particularly across Africa and other growth markets, where businesses are scaling quickly but finding it increasingly difficult to secure the right mid-management to board-level individuals.
This collaboration is about changing that.
By combining Agri Frontier’s on-the-ground networks and project access with Redfox’s international reach across agriculture, horticulture and fresh produce, we’re creating a far stronger route to market for both clients and candidates. What are the key benefits?
– Better access to talent
– Stringer delivery for complex roles
– More opportunity for individual looking to make a real impact globally
This isn’t just about recruitment. It’s about connecting the right people to the opportunities that will shape the future of international agriculture.
For years, many agricultural professionals across the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have understandably viewed career progression through a fairly traditional lens. Move farm. Move business. Move county. Maybe move country. However, quietly and steadily, something very significant has been happening across Africa.
The scale of investment, infrastructure development, food production growth, irrigation advancement, AgriTech deployment and commercial agricultural ambition now emerging across parts of the continent simply cannot be overlooked any longer. And, in our opinion at Redfox Executive Selection, the opportunities now opening up for the right individuals are potentially career-defining.
Not just financially, but professionally.
Because these are not “small” opportunities. These are businesses operating at serious scale, often with major investment backing, significant infrastructure projects, international supply chain links and genuine long-term agricultural ambition. The old perception that African agriculture consists purely of traditional farming systems is rapidly becoming outdated.
Across the continent we are now seeing highly sophisticated horticultural operations, advanced irrigation systems, world-class flower production, rapidly evolving livestock businesses, integrated post-harvest and food processing infrastructure, precision farming deployment and increasingly sophisticated AgriTech adoption.
Importantly, many of these businesses are actively seeking international expertise. Not because local talent does not exist — far from it — but because many operators are looking to combine strong local operational capability with global commercial thinking, technical expertise and international leadership experience. And that creates real opportunity.
The type of opportunity where an individual can accelerate their career far faster than in mature markets, gain substantial operational responsibility, manage major projects and become involved in businesses helping shape the future of food production.
For many people, that level of exposure would simply take decades to achieve elsewhere.
Of course, these opportunities are not for everyone. The environments can be challenging, the pace can be intense and the responsibility levels can be significant.
But for ambitious individuals who genuinely want to stretch themselves professionally and personally, the upside can be enormous.
At Redfox, we are therefore shortly commencing a major international talent search programme across Africa in partnership with one of the continent’s most progressive and highly respected agricultural and horticultural consultancies.
We will be engaging with middle-management through to senior-level individuals across areas including:
These opportunities will span operational, technical, commercial, engineering and leadership functions within highly progressive agricultural businesses operating at serious scale.
The reality is simple. Africa’s agricultural growth story is only just beginning. And the individuals who choose to become part of that journey over the next decade may well look back and realise it became one of the most important moves of their careers.
If you would potentially be interested in exploring future opportunities within Africa’s rapidly evolving agricultural and food production sectors, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Likewise if you are progressive business in Africa in the ag/fresh produce/horticulture sectors and want to benefit from this Redfox created global recruitment drive for top talent, contact us.
The recent Fresh Produce Journal article we contributed to –“Senior talent must adapt to new realities of fresh produce job market”– has gone on to become one of the publication’s most read articles over the past month we have been informed. To view the article, CLICK LINK.
That alone suggests the subject has struck a chord across agriculture, fresh produce and horticulture.
At Redfox, we speak daily with senior individuals across farming, fresh produce, agri-tech and horticulture – and one thing is becoming increasingly clear:
Many businesses are more exposed on talent than they think.
Across the sectors, we are consistently seeing:
15–30% gaps between perceived pay levels and actual market value
High performers who are not actively looking… but remain open to the right opportunity
Bonus structures that often fail to reward genuine performance or value creation
Increasing levels of “silent attrition risk”
Importantly, this is not simply about salary.
Senior individuals are increasingly moving for:
better leadership
future opportunity
stronger business direction
progression
flexibility
and feeling genuinely valued.
The hidden cost of losing a key individual is also often underestimated.
A £90K departure can quickly become: £130K-£180K+ in real cost
once recruitment fees, disruption, onboarding time, lost momentum and relationship impact are factored in.
The Key Question
If your top five people were approached this week… Would they stay?
Off the back of the market reaction to the FPJ article and what we are seeing live daily, Redfox has launched a tailored:
Salary Benchmarking & Talent Risk Snapshot
This is not generic survey data. It is built from:
live recruitment activity
real market movement
current salary expectations
and daily conversations with senior talent across the sectors.
The exercise helps businesses understand:
where they sit against the live market
where retention risk may exist
and where packages may no longer be competitive.
Know Where You Stand
If a tailored Salary Benchmarking & Talent Risk Snapshot could be of interest for your business, contact the Redfox team directly.
