The Board

Non Executive Director & Chair of Advisory Board Peter Jinman OBE

Peter Jinman is chair of the Happerley Advisory Board. Peter recently completed a term as non-executive director of Assured Food Standards (Red Tractor) and is Chairman of Defra’s Farm Animal Welfare Committee. He is a past President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Veterinary Association. He was Chair of The Farmers Club in 2018.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Founder and CEO Matthew Rymer

Owner of a software development business and former food marketing agency, Matt comes from
a long lineage of livestock farmers. On returning to the family farm in 2013, he co-founded Happerley in 2014 with fellow farmer Clifford Freeman after realising the need to vaildate food provenance for both the producer and consumer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Non Executive Director Clifford Freeman

Clifford grew his primary chicken processing business in Gloucestershire to saleto Cargill Foods in 2008. He has since turned around St Mary's Hall Hotel in the Isles of Scilly from a loss making business to one of the Island's top rated hotels.  Clifford is committed to ensuring the future of Pedigree Gloucester Cattle. The herd was established by Clifford's father, Eric, in 1971 with two cows bought at Tetbury market. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happerley Advisory Board

This Board will help develop and refine the certification terms and conditions and procedures in the UK and enshrine the sustainable and assured neutrality of Happerley for the benefit of the whole food supply chain.

Adam Henson

Cotswold farmer, Adam Henson, is a well-known TV presenter, farmer and owner of the successful
Cotswold Farm Park which highlights rare breeds and encourages children to learn about farm
animals.
In addition to The Cotswold Farm Park, Adam runs a 650-hectare farm on which and his business
partner Duncan operate a range of commercial farming activities, in addition to a growing contract
farming business.
 
 
 

Chris Crookall-Fallon

Chris Crookall-Fallon s a community and co-operative business specialist. He is
committed to helping private and public-sector businesses and community / social enterprises exploit
sustainability and renewables opportunities, manage the transition to a low carbon world, and create
strategic competitive advantage alongside operational efficiency.
 
 
 
 
 

Philip Ponsonby

Philip Ponsonby is CEO of the Midcounties Co-operative, the largest group of independent co-ops in
the UK. Phil also sits on the Co-operative’s Federal Retail and Trading Services board, responsible
for the purchasing of food for over 4000 Co-operative stores across the UK.

 
 
 
 
 

Sian Edmunds

Leading food, farming and agriculture lawyer Sian is a partner in Bristol law firm Burges Salmon LLP.
She heads their food and drink team and is an experienced member of the firm's food and farming,
land and estates and contentious trust teams.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tim Bennett

Tim Bennett is former Chair of the Food Standards Agency and past President of the NFU. He has a
wealth of experience at the highest levels in the farming and food industry which in addition to leading
the FSA and NFU, has seen him as a previous winner of the Dairy UK Dairy Industry award and chair
of DairyCo. He is currently Chair of the Farmer’s Club.
 
 
 
 
 
 

William Bennett

William is a co-founder of Dairy Partners, a business that has grown to become Europe’s largest
independent mozzarella cheese supplier, manufacturing and processing a range of cheeses created
from milk exclusively supplied by over 150 dairy farms to their own dairy in West Wales. The company
is featured in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table with one of the fastest-
growing international sales in the UK.
 

 
 

Sarah Dunning OBE

Sarah is the second generation of the Westmorland Family, a family business best known for its motorway
service areas, Tebay Services on the M6 in Cumbria and Gloucester Services on the M5 in Gloucestershire.
Sarah was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to the food, drink and hospitality sectors.
 

 
 
 

Happerley Management Team

We have made considerable investment to expand the team. Taking on a number of experienced field based representatives, and also taking on additional office based team members to manage our growth.

Sarah Rhodes – Business Manager

Sarah comes with a wealth of project management experience from working in the events industry over the last 8 years, from London 2012 to Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2019. She has had a varied working background having been brought up on a dairy farm and also being a qualified riding instructor, living in the depths of Dartmoor and the Cotswolds, she moved into the advertising and PR industry when she married her husband and had to get a real job. Sarah loves cooking and brings with her a passion for food and it’s provenance.

Claire Thayers – Happerley Ambassador and CSR Specialist

20+ years working within Corporate & Social Responsibility for various companies across the Southwest and Midlands. She champions the Assn of Gloucestershire Business Groups, Sits on various LEP subgroups and works closely with the RAU with their Lets Grow project to highlight the importance of the food & drink sector. Also chairs a bi-monthly networking group to facilitate the coming together of businesses.

Karl Goodwin – Consultant

After an early military career, Karl's experience has been almost exclusively in food. Following many years holding senior sales positions within retail manufacturing, his most recent role was as an influential board member of a family owned business within the foodservice distribution sector that boasted industry leading growth over the last 13 years; as well as sitting on both the main board and trading board of a leading foodservice buying group of some £500m. Having recently completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Leading Business, Karl has joined Happerley to help bring his passion for food and food integrity into the foodservice arena.

Jacqueline Gibson – Sustainability Advisor

Sustainability Advisor to Blenheim Palace and a member of Sustainable Food Cities network. Jacqueline has developed sustainable procurement procedures for the hospitality sector. She brings her hands-on experience of sustainable family farming to the network in her part-time role. 

Megan Waters – Provenance Process Manager

Megan oversees and manages all audit processing and customer care for Happerley. Liaising with food and drink suppliers ensuring they are getting the most out of Happerley, Megan is very much the engine which keeps Happerley running from day to day, auditing and awarding the well-deserved Happerley Transparent status to suppliers upon completion.

Ruth Erwin – Happerley Chef

Ruth has worked in the Early Years sector for many years having an active role in educating children on the importance of learning to cook with food as a lifelong skill. She is passionate about local, traceable food and experimenting with recipes using seasonal produce. She has used these skills to demonstrate to people from all backgrounds that it is possible to produce healthy meals that are budget friendly for the whole family.

The Software Team

Happerley is a progressive project supported by a policy of continual software development. This is facilitated by The Software Farm, owned by the Founder and contracted to Happerley. The team has grown since 2004 into a cutting edge team working at the cusp of online software technology. They are based in a villa in Iasi, Romania, and play a vital part in the development of the Happerley Network and Happerley Systems with heavy involvement in the design and build of the much anticipated Happerley V2 system.