Meet The Team

Nick Philp 

Chair

Nick is a partner in a family farming business based in East Berkshire. He runs the arable enterprise which consists of around 1000 acres owned and tenanted, with a further 2300 acres on contract farming arrangements within the locality. Cropping is based around high quality milling wheat, oilseed rape, beans, oats and barley. He qualified from Seale-Hayne with a degree in agriculture and has since completed his BASIS and FACTS qualifications, as well as attending the Worshipful Company of Farmers advanced business management course at Cirencester.

Married to Vicki with two young daughters, in his spare time Nick is a keen follower of sport, particularly cricket.

Becci Berry

Board Member

Becci Berry runs a 365ha mixed farm on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire borders. Approx. 200ha is tenanted from the National Trust.

In 2010 she took on the farm, which included running the dairy. Over the next ten years the improved feed efficiency; milk from forage; along with high herd health was well recognised and,
along with gaining several other industry awards, in 2019 the herd was runner up in the RADBF/NMR Gold Cup.

On the arable side the farm is in mixed rotation and since selling the dairy herd two years ago Becci has switched her focus to beef to keep livestock on the farm and keep arable options open as well as
help utilise new environmental schemes that are coming on board.

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Since the concept of ELMS and changes in environmental and agricultural policy Becci has continued to embrace various schemes and is involved in establishing our local Ock Cluster group amongst
other interests.

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Prior to taking on the farm Becci was involved with the Equestrian and horseracing industry as Director of a PR and hospitality company. Through her journey into farming, she has developed a
wider understanding of the need to develop and centralise the skills and development needed for the industry moving forward. It is for this reason she is passionate about the creation and
development of The Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH), of which she is Trustee.

Looking ahead Becci comments: “With strong family ties going back to the original creation of the Orion farming group, I know our business has, and continues to rely heavily on all that group buying and the market knowledge that Orion offers. So, it is an honour to be able to step up and join the board as a Director at this time and I very much look forward to working with the rest of the team to
continue the amazing job Orion do for us all, in an ever competitive market place.”

Alister Veitch

Board Member

Alister comes from a farming background; his father was a Member of the Group in the 80s and 90s. Alister went to Harper Adams where he studied Agriculture and has a Masters in Business Administration from Derby University.

Phil Kinch

Board Member

Third generation tenant farmer milking 350 cows with total farmed area at 2300 acres with a mix of FBT, contract farmed and owned land. Phil trained as a civil engineer then did an MBA in advanced farm management before returning to the family farm 15 years ago, he has since done a John Edgar scholarship. He is supported by his wife Jo and two young daughters. His interests include skiing, golf, badminton and tennis plus more recently running after children on ponies.

Juliet Frost

Board Member

Juliet is a supply chain expert with a strong background in farming. After earning her degree in civil engineering, she spent seventeen years in supply chain management roles at world class organisations, including BMW, the University of Oxford, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. She then transitioned to a role as a turnaround CEO for five years. Additionally, Juliet authored a textbook for the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, having achieved the MCIPS professional qualification. She grew up on a dairy farm and now resides in Oxfordshire with her husband, Nick, and their four children on their 800-acre arable farm and she also owns a potato farm in Ireland.

James Florey

Board Member

James is 38 years old, married to Fiona and have two children, Martha aged 7 and Seren aged 5. 4th generation farmer, farming approximately 500 acres along the river Thames at Northmoor. The farm comprises of a pedigree sucker herd of Ruby Red Devon Cattle where everything is finished and the majority of beef sold direct through our website business – Northmoor Meat Company. Approximately 160 acres of Spring cropped arable land. We are also in a higher tier countryside stewardship scheme which also incorporates school visits. We have recently added a small flock of sheep to the business to help aid our move to a regenerative farming system. Away from the farm I enjoy a number of sports including Cricket, Shooting and Hockey.

Charlie Chamberlain

Board Member

Charlie is a fourth-generation arable farmer at Crowmarsh Battle Farms near Wallingford, farming 3,500 acres of owned, rented and whole farm contracts with his father and brother. He returned to the farm in 2013 after a career in civil engineering and is responsible for the administrative side of the farm, including the purchasing of inputs and accounts.

Steve Maine

Board Member

Steve is our ‘non-farming’ board member, bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge from the wider business community. Steve is currently working with a broadband communications company looking to accelerate the expansion of its network. Before that he was Chief Executive of WiSpire Ltd, a broadband company based in Norfolk, and also non-executive Deputy Chairman of Six Degrees Group, a national data communications business. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Solaris Mobile, Chief Executive of Kingston Communications plc and worked in BT plc managing all of the group’s activities in satellite and video communications. He also previously served as Deputy Chairman of SpiriTel plc and was formerly a Non-Executive Director of SMG plc. He also occupied the posts of Chairman of CBI Regional Council, Yorkshire & Humber, and Non-executive Director of Urban Regeneration Company in Hull.