Travel broadens the mind – and business opportunities

A globe-trotting career has given John Giles, a director of Promar International, a wide perspective on the food chain, he explains to Bill Sherer

To have visited more than 60 countries in a work capacity is an achievement in itself. To have done this largely between the ages of 25-40 is perhaps more unusual.

John Giles, a divisional director of Promar International, the farm and agri food consulting subsidiary of Genus, started his agricultural consultancy career in this way and seems to be continuing in much the same vein.

In a career with Promar spanning more than 20 years, he has undertaken a wide range of assignments covering such areas as market assessments, supply chain analyses, business planning, evaluation and feasibility projects across the agri food sector, including major work in the horticultural, dairy, meat, fish, cereals, soyabean, rice and processed foods and drink sectors.

“Our UK clients include levy boards, government agencies, national and international food companies, retailers and food­service operators, plus some 2,500 individual farmers,” Mr Giles explains.

“We also carry out assignments for corporate and government clients based in Latin America, the US, Canada, South Africa, Russia, China, India and across the rest of the EU.

“This provides a wide perspective on what is happening globally, locally and across the full supply chain. It allows us to bring considerable experience to bear on client projects as they develop their businesses in a rapidly evolving market place.”

The agri food arm of Promar International was acquired by Genus in 1999.

“This has been a major step forward as Genus has 30 offices worldwide,” says Mr Giles. “This is strategically important when undertaking international projects to service existing or new clients. For example, I have just returned from Chile where we have an office in Santiago and where we are working in the fresh and processed fruit sectors, as well as with nuts, dairy and meat businesses.

“There is great potential for what we do at Promar International, not only in the UK, but also in Eastern Europe, Asia and both North & Latin America and parts of Africa as businesses strive to meet the opportunities in new and existing markets and with the radically changing global economic balance of power.”

In an environment of increasing demand and growth in rapidly changing UK and global markets, Mr Giles says the business always needs high calibre people.

“There is great competition among highly talented people wanting to work for Promar International. We obviously look for evidence of a trained mind and, importantly, good interpersonal skills. We employ bright and intelligent staff, put an emphasis on staff development and training, and treat them as such,” he comments.

Mr Giles modestly says he has often been in the right place at the right time in his career and the word ‘fortunate’ crops up regularly in his conversation. This attitude underlies his commitments in other key areas of the sector. He is chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s food, drink and agriculture group, and a director of The Oxford Farming Conference. He is also vice chair of the Institute of Agricultural Management.

“I enjoy being involved with these organisations and there is also a sense of giving something back to an industry that has given me many opportunities,” he says.

He writes regularly for the agricultural and food media. “My enjoyment of writing probably goes back to when I was much, much younger and wanted to be a sports journalist.

I used to listen to football match reports on the radio and then aim to write a report from the commentary!”

Mr Giles is also in demand as a conference speaker. Audiences and subject matter vary considerably. “For example, I spoke in Sydney to an audience of 1,000 at an international dairy event on the global foodservice market and, in contrast, at an evening meeting in
Brecon on farm diversification to just two.

“Irrespective of audience size, I enjoy the communication challenge these events provide,” he concludes.

• John Giles is a divisional director of Promar International, a subsidiary of Genus.