Managing Director of Mylnefield Research Services to step down

"I hope to be able to act as an ambassador for the James Hutton Institute promoting the excellence and relevance of their research in addressing global challenges.

After 23 years’ service with the company, Dr Nigel Kerby MBE, managing director of Mylnefield Research Services Ltd (MRS), a commercial affiliate of the James Hutton Institute, is to step down from his position on 6 April 2015.

Under Dr Kerby’s leadership, MRS went from being a start-up to having a turnover in excess of £4million. He has also pioneered the protection and commercialisation of intellectual assets and resources, and has forged many partnerships within industry for the “scaling-up” and “scaling-out” of technologies, particularly new plant varieties.

Dr Kerby’s success was publicly recognised nationally and locally by MRS winning the Courier Agricultural Business of the Year Award 2014 and the award of an MBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list.

Dr Kerby said: “After much deliberation I am convinced that the time is right for my departure in April 2015.

“It is my intention to work in the field of agricultural research for development and I hope to be able to act as an ambassador for the James Hutton Institute promoting the excellence and relevance of their research in addressing global challenges.”

Professor Iain Gordon, Chief Executive of the James Hutton Institute, said: “The institute will build on the successes of MRS through a single commercial subsidiary, James Hutton Limited, and has set up a committee to recruit a new managing director to replace Dr Kerby.

“In the interim, MRS will continue to meet its customers’ needs through the strong team currently co-led by Dr Jonathan Snape, Commercial Director.”

Following his departure, Dr Kerby plans to spend more time working on agricultural research for development and economic growth, and has just joined the Governing Board for the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

Notes to editors: 

Mylnefield Research Services is a commercial affiliate of the James Hutton Institute. It specialises in crop research, analytical services and plant breeding. From its Dundee base it licenses plant varieties worldwide. Around 50% of blackcurrants and around 15% of the raspberries grown worldwide are varieties bred by MRS at the James Hutton Institute. The company is also a leading breeder of potatoes, with varieties accounting for approximately 5% of the UK seed potato production. MRS started life in 1989 and its ownership transferred to the James Hutton Institute in 2011. The customer base of MRS ranges from local to multinational companies. www.mrsltd.com