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Meet the team

The people behind the Farm Business Survey

The Farm Business Survey is delivered by a dedicated team of professionals who all share something important in common — real agricultural experience.

Many of our team have their roots in farming, or still work on their own farm today.

That means when you speak to someone from the FBS, you’re talking to someone who understands the realities of your business, not just the numbers. Whether it’s livestock, crops, or diversification, our team knows the challenges and opportunities first-hand and can speak your language.

We work across England through a network of regional teams and a central support hub.

While we don’t list individual contact details here, you can contact us centrally and we’ll make sure your message reaches the right person.

Two people kneel in a barn, smiling as they gently hold a young brown calf. Hay covers the ground, and adult cows stand in the background behind a metal fence.
A colourful map of England displays its counties like a united team, each in a different colour with names clearly labelled and outlined in white, all set against a plain white background.

Find your regional team

The FBS is delivered across nine regions in England, supported by our central Hub team.

• London & South East
• South West
• West Midlands
• East of England
• East Midlands
• North West
• North East
• Yorkshire & The Humber
• The Hub (admin & data support)

Project Team

Michelle Ewens

Project Manager

Michelle Ewens, a woman with long reddish-brown hair and black glasses, is looking at the camera with a slight smile. She is outdoors, with a blurry tree and building in the background on a sunny day.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Michelle is the Project Manager for the Farm Business Survey, leading the modernisation of the programme on behalf of Defra

Michelle is the Project Manager for the Farm Business Survey, leading the modernisation of the programme on behalf of Defra. She oversees digital development and farmer engagement, working closely with regional managers, research officers, and policy teams. With a background in agricultural software projects and data-driven innovation, Michelle focuses on making the survey easier for farmers to take part in, while ensuring high-quality insights that shape agricultural policy and benchmarking across England.

Regional Managers

Ross Symons

South West

A man with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a checked button-up shirt, smiles at the camera. He is standing outdoors in front of a building with a slate roof and trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Ross is the Regional Manager for the Farm Business Survey in the South West

Ross is the Regional Manager for the Farm Business Survey in the South West. Having been involved in farming all his life, his experience spans from helping on his family’s dairy farm and running his own chickens to working as a Technician, selling fertiliser, advising on nutrient management plans, and now managing a team analysing farm accounts across four counties.
At home, he is currently rearing calves, establishing agro-forestry, starting a chicken enterprise, and generally spending as much time outdoors as possible in a pair of wellies. When not in wellies, he can usually be found watching Plymouth Argyle or out running, a new hobby he has recently taken up.

Richard Crane

Central & South East

Richard Crane, a middle-aged man with short grey hair and glasses, wearing a blue dress shirt, patterned tie, and navy waistcoat, poses against a plain light-coloured wall.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Richard is the manager of the Central & Southeast region of England for the Farm Business Survey

Richard is the manager of the Central & Southeast region of England for the Farm Business Survey. The team cover a large variety of agricultural & horticultural holdings, covering a quarter of the country from Kent to Shopshire. Richard has been involved in the survey for most of his career, meeting farmers, collecting and analysing the data and producing a variety of reports. In that time, he has seen the large structural changes in the industry. Originally from a dairy farm in Somerset, and having been to Seale-Hayne College, he has made his home in the Chilterns.

Emma Heyes

North (North West, North East, Yorkshire & The Humber)

A woman with light brown hair and glasses smiles outdoors, wearing a dark fleece jacket. The background shows a green field and a blue sky with scattered white clouds.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Emma is the Northern Regional Manager for the Farm Business Survey, leading a team of Research Officers covering the area from Cheshire up to the Scottish Borders.

Emma is the Northern Regional Manager for the Farm Business Survey, leading a team of Research Officers covering the area from Cheshire up to the Scottish Borders. With over six years of experience in data collection and analysis, she is committed to delivering accurate, high-quality insights that support effective benchmarking for farmers. Having grown up on a beef, sheep and arable farm, Emma brings both practical experience and analytical insight to her role. Her active involvement in farm diversification projects has further strengthened her understanding of the evolving challenges and opportunities within the farming sector.

Sally Pocock

The Hub (Admin & Data)

Sally Pocock, a woman with long blonde hair and black glasses, smiles slightly at the camera. She is indoors, with a dark map or chart visible on the wall behind her.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Sally Pocock brings a lifelong connection to agriculture, having grown up on a dairy farm in New Zealand.

Sally Pocock brings a lifelong connection to agriculture, having grown up on a dairy farm in New Zealand. With over two decades of experience spanning banking and agricultural leadership, she has developed a strong track record of leading teams and delivering high-quality data and insights to support farm-level decision-making.
Since relocating to the UK in 2018, Sally has worked closely with farmers and industry stakeholders, combining her deep sector knowledge with a passion for empowering people and improving outcomes through meaningful information. As the FBS Hub Manager for the Farm Business Survey, she is committed to ensuring the delivery of accurate, timely data that helps shape the future of UK agriculture.
Sally is known for her approachable style and collaborative leadership — feel free to say hello if you see her out in the field.

Deborah Mansfield

East of England & Midlands

Deborah Mansfield, with long, greying hair and round glasses, stands outdoors on grass in a green fleece jacket, surrounded by trees beneath a cloudy sky.
Logo for Promar featuring a red and blue circular design inside the letter o, symbolising unity among team members, with the tagline Your Trusted Partner in red below.
Deborah is Manager of the Midlands and Anglia team for the Farm Business Survey (FBS)

Deborah is Manager of the Midlands and Anglia team for the Farm Business Survey (FBS), delivering a large sample of annual farm data collected and analysed by a team of research officers, providing farmer feedback reports and benchmarking figures for DEFRA. As well as running the team, she helps edit the 6 monthly intelligence report and, is working on ensuring farmers participating in the FBS receive relevant and valuable insights from our annual reports. Deborah grew up on an arable farm in Suffolk and pursued a career in agronomy and farm advice before joining the FBS in 2008.

Research Officers

Our team of over 45 Research Officers work directly with farmers to collect and process data each year. They are based across England and are assigned regionally. If you register to take part in the survey, your local RO will be in touch to guide you through the process.

Looking for someone or need help?

The quickest way to reach us is through our Contact Us page. Simply send us your enquiry and our central team at Promar will make sure it gets to the right person in your region.

Whether you’re a farmer interested in registering, a researcher looking for data, or an organisation with a specific question, our team will route your query to the right specialist.

You can also contact us directly:
[email protected]
+44 (0)1270 616800

Our team is here to support you and ensure your message reaches the right FBS Research Officer or regional manager.

A person in a checked shirt uses a mobile phone while standing in a green agricultural field with young crops, possibly checking data on how FBS works to optimise their farming practices.