The vast majority of her career to date has been spent managing radio stations, most recently as a regional station director for Signal 1 in Cheshire and Staffordshire, Signal 2 in Stoke-on-Trent and Signal 107 in Wolverhampton.
However, Rachel says radio management was simply a 20 year stop gap as a career in the farming industry is something she’s always desired since completing an Agriculture Degree at Harper Adams.
Rachel said: “My grandparents were dairy farmers near Frodsham in Cheshire and my uncle still farms at Great Budworth. I’m married to a cattle foot trimmer and most of our friends are farmers, so I guess it was inevitable I’d return to my agricultural roots at some point. I’d have liked to have done it sooner but because I progressed quickly year after year in radio it became very hard to leave without significantly dropping my salary. When my husband and I saw the unique opportunity available at NFU Skelmersdale we knew it would be a perfect role for me.
“I was brought up in a family who truly believed in the values of the NFU and NFU Mutual. My grandad would attend union meetings and never insured with anyone else. I’m now looking forward to doing my bit for the betterment of others.”
Other radio stations 41 year old Rachel has worked for include Real Radio in Leeds, 2BR in Burnley, The Bee in Blackburn and Dune FM in Southport.
News Corp owned the Signal stations Rachel latterly worked for. Whilst working for Rupert Murdoch’s company she completed a Leading Women Program, was a very active member of the City Centre Partnership for Stoke-on-Trent and raised lots of money for various charities.
Rachel is a mum to two children – seven year old Oliver and four year old Lily.