UK: Simon Barnes joins Niab as Director of Growing Kent & Medway

Simon Barnes has been announced as the new Director of Growing Kent & Medway, a program that drives sustainable innovation in the horticulture, food, and drink sector. Simon joins the role at Niab from the University of Kent, where he was responsible for developing their strategic business partnerships.

The appointment follows Dr. Nikki Harrison's departure earlier this month to take on a new leadership role in the Netherlands.

Since its inception in 2021, Growing Kent & Medway has invested $8.6 million into cutting-edge facilities to boost the region's research capabilities, allocated $3.9 million in grant funding, and supported over 224 individual businesses with 12 hours of support or more than $1,000 in funding. Working with all aspects of the horticultural, food, and drink supply chain, Simon will oversee the continued growth of the regional project, ensuring it has a national impact on the sustainability of UK food and farming systems.

© Simon Barnes

Commenting on the appointment, Niab CEO Mario Caccamo said, "Growing Kent & Medway's success over the last four years is a result of its focus on investing in the creation of an innovation ecosystem; aligning research institutions, industry, funders, and policymakers to build new partnerships and develop new thinking. Simon's background in building successful, sustainable value chain collaborations means he is ideally suited to continue this mission and to create new opportunities for the project to grow and develop into the future."

Reflecting on his ambitions for the role, Simon Barnes said, "Food security, health and nutrition, environmental sustainability, and economic growth are rightly top of the political agenda. By connecting cutting-edge research capabilities and the latest academic thinking with the industry supply chain, we will continue to drive innovation across all those areas.

"I'm looking forward to building international links with partners in the Netherlands and beyond, and continuing to deliver facilities, knowledge, and talent to build on the legacy of the program. I'd like to thank Research England and UKRI for their ongoing commitment to the project and the team for their work to date, demonstrating what impact can be leveraged with innovative, regional investment."

Simon Barnes has a degree in International Transport (University of Cardiff), and a Diploma in Sustainable Business (University of Cambridge), and extensive experience building collaborations across different sectors, from farming to advanced manufacturing.

Simon will begin his tenure at Growing Kent & Medway on June 2, 2025, based at Niab's East Malling site.