4 The candidate
15. Poul Christensen has a farming background, as
a partner in a family farming partnership in Oxford since the
1960s and with a National Diploma in agriculture. He has held
a variety of advisory posts on agricultural issues from the 1970s
onwards and chaired a number of groups including Defra's Rural
Development Service from 2005-06, the UK Federation of Milk Groups
from 1998-2000 and was president of the UK Federation of Agricultural
Co-operatives from 1998-2003. He has served the South East of
England Development Agency in a number of capacities from 2002-08.
16. Mr Christensen has been Acting Chair of Natural
England since early 2009, following the untimely death of the
first Chair, having held the position of Deputy Chair since 2006.
He has been a member of the Defra Management Board since May 2007.
17. He was awarded a CBE in 1994 for services to
agriculture and the commercial development of ADAS. Poul Christensen's
full curriculum vitae is attached at Appendix 4.
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