UK seafood authority Seafish has announced the appointment of John Whitehead as interim chair of the organisation following the completion of Charles Howeson’s three-year term as chair.
Whitehead said: “After many years of association with Seafish as its deputy chair, I am delighted to step up to my new role. I would like to thank Charles Howeson for all that he has achieved during his time as chair.
“I am assuming the interim chair of Seafish at a challenging time, when we are appealing against a Court of Appeal judgement that has affected more than half of our annual income. However, I am confident that we have the continuing support of government as we face the challenge of our appeal to the Supreme Court”.
“More importantly, we are working on a fully-effective plan to improve our service to industry over the next three years and focus hard on delivering value for money against industry investment in us.”
Whitehead has spent all his working life in the food industry, latterly as the MD of Top Hat Holdings Limited, a UK-based producer of convenience food for many of the major multiple retailers and foodservice chains.
He has considerable experience in public sector organisations, having previously served as a commissioner of the Meat and Livestock Commission and a Member of the Council of Food from Britain.
He is chairman of the Certification Council of Scottish Food Quality Certification Ltd and senior independent director of Improve, the Sector Skills Council for the food and drink industry. He serves as a non executive director with Strathmore Foods Ltd and Glycomar Ltd.
In 2004 he was awarded an OBE for services to the agri-food industry. Educated at Keswick School and the Royal Agricultural College; he was admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture in 1986.
