We bring structure & process
to farming operations
Meet Our Managing Director
Andrew Wilson leads Growing Fresh Solutions and also executes all projects undertaken by the business.
Previously, Andrew was the Farms Managing Director for Keelings Retail in Ireland and spent 18 years with the organisation.
Responsible for some 34 million euro of strategic capital investment, he change managed the farming operations from 2.2 to 4.3 million Kg of soft fruit per annum under numerous growing systems including 10 Ha of modern heated glasshouses and a 2MW CHP plant. Whilst leading the farms business, Andrew personally managed the larger projects and strategic planning for that complex business as well as the covid pandemic and all transitions between management and operative staff entering and leaving the business.
His ability to identify useful resources in diverse industries and re-engineer them for the farming context resulted in the innovative 'Farm Critical Risk Management' process; the application of 'Lean' to growing and the 'PRINCE2' project management process to farm strategic planning, amongst other performance growth drivers.
He knows that robust and sustainable Adaptive Capacity can be built into any well considered farm operations strategy using good historic data capture, structure, tools, guidance and excellent overall understanding of farm business and seasonal flow combined with a motivated and empowered team.
Technical Qualifications
Professional Skills: a Masters degree in business (MBA) from Bath University UK, Risk management, High performance team coaching, PRINCE2 project management, Process mapping, Product costing and Agricultural mechanisation, to name a few.
Pre-MBA: Andrew spent an additional 14 years managing, starting and developing fresh fruit, vegetable and flower exporting to Europe for a number of large commercial farming organisations across sub-tropical and tropical countries in sub-saharan Africa.
Over 30 years of Practical Experience: with a diverse range of fresh produce production and export implementations. He's an expert in the management of operations and adaptive capacity within complex, disruptive and transformative horticultural businesses.
Andrew's experience also includes large scale commercial farming and seed production of soya, cereals, grains and groundnuts, as well as coffee, food colourants, tobacco, livestock, cut flowers, fresh produce packhouses and processing.