The Agricultural Engineers Association announce that the Board has appointed Ruth Bailey as its new Director General and Chief Executive Officer. She succeeds Roger Lane-Nott, who is retiring after 8 years in the post.
Ruth Bailey is the first woman to head up the AEA, representing more than 150 companies involved in the manufacture and import of Farm and Outdoor Power equipment. The Association members, with businesses throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland supply close to £4 billion of high tech farm and outdoor power equipment as well as land based engineering technology to Europe and over a dozen overseas markets as well as principally meeting the needs of Britain’s farming and amenity community.
Ruth, 47, a keen marathon and off-road runner, resides in Northamptonshire with her partner and said: “I am absolutely delighted and thrilled to be coming back to my roots. Britain’s farming and land based engineering industry is one of the most technically innovative and productive industries in the world, working with and adapting to the application of diverse conditions with environmental and productivity ratios in fine balance. The British and European markets in particular have a world class reputation for quality, reliability and value and the industry plays a key enabling role in meeting Food Security needs.”
From a farming family in Penistone, South Yorkshire, Ruth comes to the industry from the mining equipment supply sector with a strong knowledge of the cross-over potential of technologies across the sectors. Ruth graduated with a BA Honours Degree in Modern Languages and Politics, studying Spanish and Russian at the University of Navarre, Spain and the Institute of Foreign Languages, Kiev, Ukraine, respectively. She also holds a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Her working career began with Sheffield-based electrical switchgear manufacturer Baldwin & Francis Limited as a marketing specialist, later joining Joy Mining Machinery Ltd in 1996. After working at the Joy Nottingham and Wigan sites, Ruth moved overseas to work for Joy Mining in China, expanding the company’s operations in the Chinese market and helping to establish Joy’s first wholly-owned foreign enterprise in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. After spending 5 years in China Ruth returned to the UK and subsequently moved to ABMEC, the Association of British Mining Equipment Companies. As Director General she was highly successful in building the profile of the British mining equipment supply market and promoting the sector to several new overseas markets including Yakutia, Kazakhstan and Chile, turning the Association around and introducing a series of measures to the benefit of its members.
After 4 successful years at ABMEC, Ruth returned to China in 2012 to work for Armstrong Fluid Systems Shanghai Ltd., part of the large Canadian corporation – Armstrong. Her role was to build company exposure and develop face to face relationships with key customer accounts both in a direct capacity and through an agency network. She established a Beijing Office and was responsible for improving the commercial supply service of RMI equipment into the market.
After a period of time as Marketing Manager for Dosco Overseas Engineering Ltd. Ruth now joins the AEA bringing a wealth of business experience from a synergic industry and a successful track record in managing a high profile Trade Association.
Adds Ruth: “Succeeding Roger Lane-Nott will be a very tough act to follow. During the past 8 years he has raised the profile of AEA to that of a government accredited trade association, strongly promoting and representing the superior technical and engineering capabilities of the member farming and outdoor power equipment companies to domestic and European government influencers. My focus will be on building on Roger’s legacy and taking the Association forward from its current position of strength, promoting its core interests in the relevant sectors to a wider audience and continuing the advance of the professional aspect of the industry, encouraging skills development, young technicians and engineers and the expansion of professional qualifications.
Roger Lane-Nott said: “Ruth Bailey has already shown she is an accomplished ambassador for a technically based equipment market such as ours and all in the industry will wish her every success in the new challenge ahead.”
David Sturges, current AEA President, said: “The AEA Board is delighted with the appointment of Ruth Bailey as the new Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Association. Ruth brings a wealth of experience to this role. We are confident that she will continue to develop and evolve the AEA to meet the changing needs of its members from the Farm and Outdoor Power Equipment sectors.
The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Roger Lane-Nott for his hard work and dedication in this role and for everything he has accomplished. The AEA has been fortunate to have Roger at the helm for the last eight years and, when the time comes, we all wish him and his family the very best for the future.”
Ruth will start with the AEA in September, taking over full time from Roger in January 2015. She is looking forward to meeting with members and industry representatives and commits herself to building strong relationships for the future.
Agricultural Engineers Association www.aea.uk.com