Meet the Terravesta Team
Chairman
William Cracroft-Eley
Since planting Miscanthus at home in 2006 and realising its excellent potential as a stable farm enterprise on difficult land, William has made it his mission to bring order and transparency to Miscanthus supply. William established Terravesta Ltd in 2012 to deliver a secure and reliable national contract-based supply chain and develop the market for Miscanthus as the UK’s no.1 energy crop.
Managing Director
Florian Ilias
Florian is at the helm of bringing Miscanthus to the forefront in Europe. With a strategic focus on advancing the Miscanthus bioeconomy, he is diligently developing both the supply and demand aspects of this sustainable bio-resource. Drawing on his experience of successfully managing SMEs across Europe, Florian skilfully brings out the best in our growing team, fostering innovation and excellence.
Finance Director
Hamish Bichan
Hamish Bichan has enjoyed consultancy, advisory and executive management roles in agriculture for over 25 years. He is an active member of the Terravesta management team, assisting with strategy implementation, budget forecasting and reporting and helping to maintain an effective supply chain, from farmers right through to end users.
Non Executive Director
Nat Le Roux
Nat joined the Terravesta team in September 2018 after investing in the business. He’s a financial whizz, having spent most of his career in financial markets and held the position of chief executive of IG Group as well as independent director of the London Metal Exchange. No stranger to the agricultural world, he now farms in East Suffolk and he joins the Terravesta board alongside positions of chairman for Scotgold Resources and strategy director of the Constitution Society, which he co-founded.
Director European Operations
Andrzej Matyjewski
Andrzej, our dedicated European Operations Director, has over a decade of experience in the agricultural biofuels sector, complemented by a strong background in biotechnical engineering. Based in Poland but frequently on business trips, his primary responsibility is to ensure the supply of high quality, sustainable and traceable planting material. In addition, Andrzej skilfully cultivates the European market, demonstrating a keen eye for commercial opportunities while providing expert knowledge to support growers and industrial users.
Research and Development
Dr Jason Kam
Jason is a scientist with a background steeped in academia. He’s spent his career specialising in the study of farmed crops and among his many scientific accolades is achieving a PhD looking at molecular responses to drought in wheat. Jason first worked on Miscanthus research in 2016 and is now relishing the opportunity to transfer scientific knowledge into practical uses for Miscanthus which benefit our environment.
Product Development
Dr Michal Mos
An experienced researcher with over two decades of Miscanthus experience, Michal leads the development of innovative seed-based Miscanthus hybrids. His extensive research investigates various treatments to improve seed production and plant establishment in different climates. Michal is at the forefront of testing novel crossing block setups and evaluating their effectiveness in our breeding programmes. In addition to his scientific skills, he has a green thumb and a unique ability to communicate with plants, fostering a deeper understanding of their growth patterns and needs. Michal is also involved in PlantMelody, a project where certain frequencies promote plant growth.
Sales and Planting
Philip Greenway
Philip has worked with grasses in one form or another all his career. You could say he started small and worked his way up to a giant – Miscanthus! His roots were in amenity horticulture, sports turf and landscaping, and having held previous post as seeds specialist, Philip has stacks of experience working with end-users. He’s BASIS and FACTS qualified and supports farmers to plant Terravesta Athena (TM) crops and get the best from them.
Customer Accounts
Mark Coleman
Mark is a people person, and keeps the team laughing with his quick wit as well as bringing with him a wealth of experience in customer support. Past posts include branch management for a leading bank and financial consultancy for pensions and investments. He is highly skilled in problem-solving and ensures Terravesta growers are well supported. He works closely with our planting team to develop our Harvest Hub and keeps our farmers fully updated.
PR and Communications
Sophie Robinson
Sophie is mad about writing, the environment and agriculture, which is the perfect mix for her role as the voice of Terravesta. Her background is in agricultural marketing and PR and before joining our team she worked for a leading agricultural PR agency. Sophie writes our newsletters, our news features in the press, our marketing literature and manages the social media, in fact she pretty much has a handle on most of the stuff we put out to the world!
Office Manager
Debbie Bringloe
Debbie manages the vital link between our growers, hauliers and end markets. She’s pivotal in ensuring that the collection and delivery of bales from farms into energy plants and processing facilities runs smoothly and is all accounted for. Debbie also manages the growers and haulier’s invoices and payments.
Logistics and Accounts
Alison Fisher
Alison has now been managing and supporting Terravesta growers for over 10 years, handling virtually all the contracts we produce and liaising daily with the renewable power plants we supply. She is the first port of call for any grower or collection inquiry and is a vital cog within the logistics team.
Finance
Tracy Devlin-Gray
Tracy has a keen eye for detail and is meticulous in her approach to accounting. With a diverse background in sales, marketing and strong accounting experience, she has a deep understanding of business workings. Tracy maintains a high standard of accounting methods and principals and provides invaluable support to the department and the development of our company.
Field Tecnician
Alex McCash
Alex’s role is vital to the future development of Miscanthus crops and the expansion of Miscanthus plantings. He co-ordinates field trials of existing varieties and new hybrids to
evaluate planting techniques and find ways to improve crop establishment and resulting yield. He has a degree in Plant Science from the University of Sheffield. Alex is passionate about sustainable agriculture and his practical knowledge is invaluable in reviewing our planting and rhizome quality protocol.
Software Development
Uddin Mohammad Munir
Meet Munir, our dynamic IT manager and Ruby on Rails software developer. With expertise in maintaining and advancing our internally crafted logistics and operations programs, HarvestHub and Gaia, Munir plays a pivotal role in ensuring seamless business operations. Additionally, he oversees the development of our science data repository, Physis. Munir’s proficiency extends beyond coding – he’s a whizz at harnessing drone pictures and geo data, a skill that proves indispensable in our precision yield calculations.