Mark Heywood FRICS MRIN
Mark Heywood lives at Haresfield in Gloucestershire, 500 yards from the house in which he was born in 1948. His Father was a well-known Gloucestershire landowner and farmer and Mark continues to steward the family land.
Trained as a Chartered Surveyor at the Royal Agricultural College, Mark spent his early working life in private practice as a land agent in Huntingdon and then Oxford. Having inherited from his Mother an incurable bug to travel, he joined Tate & Lyle and spent ten years with the company developing large agro-industrial projects mainly related to sugar cane production.
This experience enabled him to develop his earlier fascination for the relationship between people and land. With like-minded Chartered Surveyors, he developed a consulting business which flourished in the 1990s advising international economic development agencies such as the World Bank on land policy and land administration in emerging economies. Throughout the 1990s Mark and the firm worked extensively in former communist countries from Albania to Russia and the Central Asian States, helping to develop the economic infrastructure required to allow land reform and the development of open land markets.
Mark has been able to combine his overseas activity with farming at home, which has ensured that his advisory role has always been well rooted in practical experience. As a dairy farmer, he was one of the founding members of Milk Group and when that merged in 2004 with a co-operative to become Dairy Farmers of Britain, marketing about 20% of the nation's milk supply, he became a Director. Sadly that business fell victim to low milk prices and its ambitious plans as a farmer-controlled, national milk business were never realised.
Mark has served on county committees of the National Farmers Union and Country Land & Business Association and for 25 years was a Trustee of the Barnwood House Trust, Gloucestershire's largest disability charity, the last five years as Chairman. He sits on the Governing Council of Gloucester Cathedral.
Sailing has always been his passion and Mark is an RYA qualified Yachtmaster and Race Officer. Shortly before his term as High Sheriff commenced, Mark completed the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Caribbean 600 mile race, the 'Fastnet' of the Caribbean.
Mark's plans for his shrieval year include a project which will develop a higher level of engagement by the Crown Court with Gloucestershire's secondary schools. On 30 September 2011, Mark is staging an ambitious concert for Gloucestershire's performing talents in Gloucester Cathedral with the help and support of Cheltenham Festivals, the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire, the Three Choirs' Festival and the Dean and Chapter.
Email inquiries about and communications for the High Sheriff should be addressed to his Secretary, Lifa Oakley: lifa@wingatesfarm.net