Haskins quits to stride a rural path
CHRISTOPHER Haskins, Lord Haskins of Skidby, has announced his retirement from the chairmanships of his Northern Foods empire and Express Dairies. His decision is primarily down to his desire to work more closely in the world of politics, where the peer is a close adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair on rural affairs.
He will be replaced at Northern Foods by 60-year-old former chairman and chief executive of Nestle UK Peter Blackburn, also the current president of the Food and Drink Federation. His successor at Express Dairies, demerged from Northern in 1998, is Sir David Naish, a non-executive director of the company since 1998 and a former president of the National Farmers' Union.
Haskins, 64, announced his departure as half-year results from Northern Foods appeared to show the chilled meals group turning a corner after a difficult first quarter to the year. Underlying pre-tax profits were £38.4m in the six months to 30 September against £42m a year earlier. Sales were up from £657.3m to £698.2m. The interim dividend rises from 2.9p to 3.05p.
'I wanted to make sure I got Northern Foods and Express Dairies right before I retired,' he said. The owner of an 800-acre Yorkshire farm, who developed Northern into a multi-million pound empire, has spent much of the past year facing questions over whether he should be so closely involved with setting Government rural policy.
He is the rural recovery co-ordinator for foot-and-mouth-ravaged Cumbria and has worked on plans for sweeping changes to the Common Agricultural Policy. A pro-euro campaigner, he also has the ear of the Prime Minister on cutting red tape, as chairman of the Better Regulation Task Force.
Haskins' decision to retire early should go some way towards placating the critics and allowing him to devote more than his current two days a week to Government work.
The son of a protestant farmer in the Republic of Ireland, he married his university sweetheart from Trinity College, Dublin, whose father was boss of a small Yorkshire dairy business, Northern Dairies. His father-in-law proved to be a fine talent-spotter, asking him to join the business in the 1960s.
