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News
F
ef
r
uitg
r
owe
r
.co.uk
ThE FrUITGrOWEr •MArCh 2017
Launc
h
edon 21 Feb
r
ua
r
y, t
h
eCont
r
act C
h
eckingSe
r
vice
h
as been developed following an inc
r
ease in t
h
e numbe
r
of
cont
r
act dispute cases
r
efe
rr
ed to t
h
eNFU’s Legal Assistance
Sc
h
eme (LAS) and enqui
r
ies f
r
ommembe
r
s asking fo
r
NFU
guidance befo
r
e signing cont
r
acts. 91 caseswe
r
e
r
efe
rr
ed to
t
h
e LAS in 2014/2015,
r
ising to 100 cases fo
r
2015/2016. If
t
h
is t
r
end continues, 100+mo
r
e caseswill
h
ave been opened
t
h
is yea
r
and evenmo
r
e cases in subsequent yea
r
s.
NFU legal boa
r
d c
h
ai
r
man T
r
evo
r
Foss said: “Cont
r
act
disputes a
r
e an inc
r
easing conce
r
n fo
r
ou
r
membe
r
s. T
h
e
total cost of cont
r
act disputes fo
r
NFUmembe
r
s in
2015/2016
r
an to an eye-wate
r
ing £698,247; wit
h
t
h
eNFU
Legal AssistanceSc
h
eme (LAS) cont
r
ibuting a
r
ound
£450,000 to
h
elp its subsc
r
ibe
r
swit
h
t
h
ese costs. “I
r
onically,
many of t
h
ese disputes could easily
h
ave been avoided, o
r
t
h
e costs significantly
r
educed, by seekingp
r
ofessional
guidance and suppo
r
t at t
h
e outset, befo
r
e signing on t
h
e
dotted line. Fo
r
t
h
is
r
eason, t
h
eNFU, in conjunctionwit
h
its
Legal Panel Fi
r
ms, is launc
h
ing t
h
eCont
r
act C
h
ecking
Se
r
vice to
h
elp ou
r
often-busymembe
r
s by adding a f
r
es
h
pai
r
of p
r
ofessional eyes tomake su
r
e all is p
r
esent and
co
rr
ect. As a bonus, t
h
eNFU, t
hr
oug
h
its LAS, is offe
r
ing t
h
e
fi
r
st 50 subsc
r
ibe
r
sw
h
o take up t
h
e se
r
vice a one-off £100
towa
r
d t
h
e costs incu
rr
ed.”
T
h
e se
r
vice is o
r
ganised into t
hr
ee tie
r
s:
• A f
r
ee initial discussionwit
h
t
h
eNFU’sCallFi
r
st Specialist
Advise
r
s’ team, available to all NFU fa
r
me
r
and g
r
owe
r
membe
r
s
• An initial
r
epo
r
t p
r
oducedby anNFU legal panel solicito
r
conside
r
ingmembe
r
s’
r
equi
r
ements,
r
eviewing t
h
e
cont
r
act and explainingw
h
at itmeans
• Amo
r
e detailed
r
eviewwit
h
advice on
h
ow to
r
enegotiate
t
h
e cont
r
act te
r
ms.
T
h
osew
h
o use t
h
e se
r
vicewill
r
eceive advice about
cont
r
acts suc
h
as t
h
e sale of goods o
r
se
r
vices, g
r
azing
licences and tenancy ag
r
eements. T
h
e se
r
vice does not cove
r
mo
r
e tec
h
nical a
rr
angements, suc
h
as fo
r
eign dist
r
ibution
ag
r
eements o
r
t
h
e sale of la
r
ge estates.
12
New cont
r
act c
h
ecking se
r
vicewill saveNFU
membe
r
s time andmoney
New tec
h
nical manage
r
fo
r
Ce
r
tis
Planasa st
r
engt
h
ens its p
r
esence in t
h
e no
r
t
h
and east of Eu
r
ope
Planasa is st
r
engt
h
ening its establis
h
ment in t
h
e no
r
t
h
and east of Eu
r
ope by t
h
e appointment
of hansObe
r
s as t
h
e newGene
r
al Manage
r
of PlanasahollandBV. hans
h
as ove
r
35 yea
r
s of
expe
r
ience in t
h
e secto
r
,
h
aving specialised in be
rr
ies and aspa
r
agus.
A g
r
owe
r
fo
r
t
h
e fi
r
st pa
r
t of
h
is ca
r
ee
r
, t
hr
oug
h
out
h
is p
r
ofessional lifehans
h
as been t
h
e
Gene
r
al Manage
r
of t
h
eha
r
g
r
eaves Plantsholland company, and co-C
h
ai
r
man of t
h
eEu
r
opean
Be
rr
yB
r
eedingAssociation andof t
h
e Eu
r
opeanSt
r
awbe
rr
yNu
r
se
r
y Association. P
r
io
r
to
ente
r
ingPlanasa,
h
ewas amanage
r
at t
h
eDutc
h
company Visse
r
s, dedicated to t
h
e
p
r
opagation of be
rr
ies and aspa
r
agus. hanswill
r
emainC
h
ai
r
man of t
h
ehansab
r
edB
r
eeding
station inD
r
esden, Ge
r
many, a pa
r
tne
r
s
h
ip t
h
at includes Planasa.
T
h
e influence of Planasa in t
h
e no
r
t
h
and east of Eu
r
ope is inc
r
easing. T
h
e company’s activity,
mainly focused on st
r
awbe
rr
ies,
r
aspbe
rr
ies, bluebe
rr
ies and aspa
r
agus, is inc
r
easing yea
r
-on-
yea
r
. T
h
e appointment of hansObe
r
swill enablePlanasa to continue towo
r
k in ama
r
ket in
w
h
ic
h
it iswell
r
ecognised.
A new yea
r
and a new sta
r
t fo
r
Ad
r
ianSisson, w
h
o joinsCe
r
tisUK as t
h
ei
r
new tec
h
nical manage
r
.
Following a successful ca
r
ee
r
in tec
h
nical
r
oles, wo
r
king fo
r
dist
r
ibution and global c
r
opp
r
otection
companies, includingMa
h
k
h
tes
h
im-Agan andDupont, Ad
r
ianSisson b
r
ingswit
h
h
im a b
r
oad
spect
r
um of expe
r
ience f
r
om ac
r
oss t
h
e secto
r
.
T
h
e positionwill see
h
imwo
r
kingwit
h
key custome
r
s, advise
r
s and
r
esea
r
c
h
e
r
s ac
r
oss t
h
eCe
r
tis
po
r
tfolio in a tec
h
nical co-o
r
dination and communications
r
ole, bolste
r
ing t
h
e existing tec
h
nical team.
“A key pa
r
t of my
r
olewill be to
h
elpdevelop new and existingp
r
oducts and concepts, leading to
p
r
oduct st
r
ategies t
h
at will wo
r
k fo
r
ag
r
onomists and t
h
ei
r
g
r
owe
r
s,” says Ad
r
ian. “I am fo
r
tunate t
h
at
I will continue towo
r
k closelywit
h
t
h
e contacts t
h
at I’ve establis
h
edove
r
t
h
e yea
r
s, offe
r
ing tec
h
nical
suppo
r
t ac
r
ossCe
r
tis’ extensive p
r
oduct
r
ange, but I’m also looking fo
r
wa
r
d to t
h
e c
h
allenge of t
h
e
newpo
r
tfolios t
h
at Ce
r
tis is involvedwit
h
. It’s an exciting time fo
r
t
h
e companywit
h
t
h
ei
r
st
r
ong
pipeline and innovations”.
