John and Cathy Charles-Jones

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John and Cathy Charles-Jones are farmers in Nottinghamshire.

Neither John nor Cathy were from a farming background, but this hasn鈥檛 stopped them from climbing the rungs of the farming ladder, culminating in the purchase of Woodborough Park (244ha) in 2004, albeit with Barclays Bank as a major shareholder.

John completed an HND in Agricultural Science in 1976 at the RAC (Royal Agricultural College) and within two years became a herd manager of 280 dairy cows in Gloucestershire. Before being appointed farm manager of the RAC home farm (240ha) in 1982. In 1989 John and Cathy were lucky to secure a contract-farming agreement in North Warwickshire on a 250ha dairy / arable farm, starting with a 120-cow dairy herd that subsequently expanded to 180 producing 1.5m litres. An additional 60ha of arable land was added in 1995. In 2000 the agreement ended with just 3-months' notice, due to a sudden change in estate policy.

John spent two years as a farm business consultant followed before studying full-time for an MBA in Wine Business Management in 2002-03, during which time John was awarded the Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Business Management in a competition sponsored by the Farmers Club and ADAS; (a certain - much younger - NFU President Tom Bradshaw came second!).

Having learned quickly that the grass is not always greener in other industries, this led to the totally unexpected tender and purchase of Woodborough Park in 2004, a ring-fenced mainly arable farm close to the urban fringe of Nottingham.

John represented Nottinghamshire on NFU Council from 2008 - 2023 and has been a member of the NFU鈥檚 Legal Board since 2020.