Yorkshire Science

Adrian Belton

Chief Executive, The Food and Environment Research Agency

Adrian Belton has wide ranging leadership experience at Board level in both the private and public sectors. His affinity with Yorkshire stems from being educated in Sheffield, and a return to that city 20 years later as Barclays Director for South Yorkshire.

A maths graduate from University of Durham, Adrian joined the fast track career programme in Barclays, holding various senior roles including front line ones advising and lending money to hi-tech companies, and leading a Board level strategy review in the mid 90s on the future of banking in the face of the anticipated digital, chip, and internet revolution. He remained in the north when Bradford & Bingley recruited him in 2000 to become their first Chief Risk Officer to assist in their flotation and conversion.

His public sector career started in 2004 in local government as a chief officer in a major unitary authority to lead modernisation of service delivery, before moving to Natural England where he was Executive Director Operations having led the merger programme to establish the new NDPB based in Sheffield. Adrian is currently Chief Executive of The Food and Environment Research Agency, and a non-executive director and Vice Chair of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).