Red Tractor has appointed James Russell as an Independent Director to the Assured Food Standards (AFS) board. He is a Fellow of the Royal college of Veterinary Surgeons, and a former president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA).

Mr Russell has held several roles within the BVA and serving on the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England and appointed as an Assistant Clinical Professor for the University of Nottingham. For decades, he has worked with farmers in the fight to eradicate Bovine Viral Diarrhoea and Bovine Tuberculosis.

James Russell formally takes up this new position at the end of November, when fellow senior vet Dr Melissa Donald, and president of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, second term ends.