Phil will be leaving NOAH after 13 years in the post to take planned early retirement from a full time role in animal health, and looks forward to handing over the role to Dawn Howard over the next few months.
“On behalf of the NOAH Board and members I cannot thank Phil enough for the fantastic work he has done to represent and advise us during a period of great change. He has built a professional association which is both respected and admired by its members and other organisations,” said David Ellerton, NOAH Chairman.
“I would also like to welcome Dawn to NOAH and I am very much looking forward to working with her in the coming years to address the new challenges facing our industry.”
Ms Howard brings to NOAH substantial experience from across the agri-food sector, both within the UK and Europe. This includes heading up the European body for commercial farm animal breeding organisations, EFFAB, and representing UK agricultural interests in Brussels at the British Agriculture Bureau.
Ms Howard originally qualified as a Botanist at Nottingham University and spent a number of years working in Defra’s Plant Health Inspectorate before moving to work on Plant Health policy, the Pesticides Safety Directorate and finally Animal Health and Welfare policy in Westminster.
She later joined the National Farmers Union and soon transferred to their Brussels office where she was responsible for a number of policy areas, including animal health and welfare.
She has developed close working relationships with EU organisations such as IFAH-Europe, EPRUMA, Copa-Cogeca and FVE. During her time with EFFAB she also worked on EU research policy and programmes and was actively involved with the ‘Animal Task Force’, the ‘European Platform for Sustainable Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction’ and the cross-governmental ‘Joint Research Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE-JPI)’.
“I am delighted to be joining NOAH and to have the opportunity to take the organisation forward to the next stage in its development – building on the legacy Phil and his team have built over the past few years,” said Ms Howard.
“This will be a challenging time for NOAH members with the long-awaited regulatory changes finally on the horizon. However, I am confident that NOAH will continue to be a strong voice for the animal health industry and I am looking forward to working with our members and professional colleagues to secure a healthy future.”
