ADAS dairy staff leave to form rival
25 August 2000
ADAS dairy staff leave to ‘form rival’
By Emma Penny
FIFTEEN dairy business consultants have resigned en masse from the consultancy group ADAS to reportedly set up a rival business.
The resignations include John Allen, ADAS head of business development, Ros Hughes, operations manager; and Tim Davies, chief dairy nutritionist.
Business development manager, David Levick; Mark Perry, from ADAS Direct; and Chris Flint, who dealt with quota information, have also quit.
The consultants are believed to have resigned on Aug 1 but none of the staff involved were willing to comment.
However, one former ADAS consultant, who is not involved in the new group, said the mass resignation was a problem for the organisation.
He said: “What does this say to clients about ADAS? And for the people left, it begs the question of what happens next?”
Julian Hayes, ADASs director of agricultural consultancy, refused to comment on rumours that the group were on paid leave while serving their notice and banned from working.
He denied suggestions that ADAS has been left without any dairy consultants between Salisbury and Leeds.
“We have more than 70 dairy business consultants left, and significant number of those within the Midlands, all with high level skills,” he said.
“ADAS is more than a collection of people.
We will miss some of the people in the group that have left, but we have a lot of skills within the business, as well as ADAS Bridgets which is a unique research facility, specialist services such as labs and business management services.”
Mr Hayes said all clients affected by the move had been written to and ADAS had also spoken to most of them.
He added: “We have had a mixed response.
Some have chosen to dispense with any consultancy, others have loyalties to individuals and some want to remain with ADAS because of the service and back up it provides.”
But the resignations offers new opportunities, according to Paul Jandrell, national business manager at Promar, a rival consultancy group to ADAS.
Mr Jandrell said: “It is an opportunity and a threat to us, but it would be naive to think that we would not exploit the situation to our gain.
Another player in the market-place means everyone will have to raise their game.”
- Tremendous opportunities for dairy farmers, FWi, 05 July 1999
- Dairy elite can still do well – but rest warned, FWi, 08 January 1999