George Vestey is the third son of Edmund and Anne Vestey. Having served in the British Army, he joined the family business in the late 80’s as a trainee butcher and progressed through several managerial roles in the retail butchery division of the business. Operating both in Australia and in the UK, he was successively appointed HR Director and Marketing Director for JH Dewhurst. Having spent time away from the business working with his own retail butchery business, George returned in 2006 as Executive Assistant to the CEO of the Group. He now holds the role of Chief Executive Officer of Vestey Holdings Limited which he has held since 2010.
Colin Copland is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He did his training in Aberdeen before moving to Southern England in the late 1970’s to take up his first position in the food industry. He became Finance Director of a fuel distribution business in the mid 1980’s before becoming Group Finance Director in 1988 of a listed company with diverse activities including food trading and food manufacturing. In 2003 Colin joined Vestey Holdings Limited and was appointed Group Finance Director in 2006.
Sir James Wates CBE is a Board Director of the Wates Group, having served as Chairman from 2013 to 2023. He is Chairman of Family Business UK, a Non-Executive Director of Argent Services LLP and on the Board for The Prince’s Trust 50th Anniversary Campaign. Throughout his career, he has held numerous senior positions representing the built environment sector, including Chairman of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Co-chair of the government-sponsored Infrastructure Exports: UK, and Co-chair of the trade association Build UK. In 2018, he was appointed by the government to chair the coalition group developing corporate governance principles for large private companies (the so-called ‘Wates Principles’). In 2012, he was awarded the CBE and, in 2019, was knighted for services to business and to charity.
Amanda has broad international business experience. She has spent the last 30 years living and working in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and has extensive experience in professional services and business startups.
As a passionate believer in the value of continuing professional education, Amanda founded the largest provider of financial training in Singapore. Working together with UK and US-based training companies, she expanded the business across Asia. During this time, she also lectured extensively on a range of corporate finance and risk management topics.
Since moving to the UAE, Amanda has provided consultancy services for educational businesses, established the Middle East office of the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) as well as being an early mover in vertical farming by starting a business to provide sustainable, nutritious local produce. Until her retirement from the firm in June 2023, Amanda was a partner at PwC where she headed up the regional education and skills business.
Robin Vestey is the fourth and youngest son of Edmund and Anne Vestey. Robin studied at Edinburgh University before joining the family business in the 1980’s, working in the cold storage, transport and shipping sides of the business in France, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, and in the UK. When Blue Star Line was sold in 1998, Robin enrolled to study agriculture at the then Royal Agricultural College where he acquired the practical knowledge to take on the role of Alternate Director and become immersed in the farming activities in Brazil and Venezuela. On Edmund’s retirement in 2004, Robin became a Non-Executive Director and, in 2020, took on the chairmanship of the newly formed family council.
