About us...
Heathpatch Directors
James Buckle
James set up Heathpatch Ltd in 1997 and takes an active interest in all the businesses. He spends a lot of time in the voluntary and charitable sectors and is a Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk.
He has previously been Chair of the Suffolk Community Foundation and the Porch Project, was Vice Chair of the East Anglian Air Ambulance and High Sheriff of Suffolk.
George Westwood
George is the Group Chief Executive of Heathpatch Ltd. George is a chartered accountant (ACA) and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds. Before moving to Suffolk, he worked for accountancy firm BDO in London. George works across the Heathpatch Group managing group finance, commercial strategy as well as estate management on the farm in Semer.
Charles Buckle
Charles Buckle Director of Heathpatch Ltd. Charles manages Nedging Hall Estate, a subsidiary of Heathpatch. He previously worked in insurance in London before moving back to Suffolk where he ran The Lindsey Rose pub and purchased Mauldon’s Limited in 2019, which are both now part of the Nedging Hall Estate group. He was appointed to the Heathpatch board in 2020.
Charles Course
Charles is Group Chairman of Heathpatch Ltd. He manages all of the Heathpatch operating companies and brings a huge depth of business experience and excellent agricultural connections. Charles set up Material Change Ltd in 2002 after leaving Bidwells as an equity partner.
James Hutchinson
James is a non-executive director of Heathpatch Ltd. He is a founder and Director of a Chartered Accountancy practice which advises over 180 farms and agricultural businesses across the UK. He grew up on the ICI Dairy Farms in Somerset and has had practical farming experience on a variety of farms. He is a Wye College Agricultural Business Management graduate, and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1991. He was one of the founders of Kingshay, national dairy specialists and was also a partner in a family farming business with his brothers.
John Baker Cresswell
John is a non-executive director of Heathpatch Ltd. Most of John's working time is spent around farming or land based activities. He has run his own farming business in Northumberland for almost 30 years and is a director or trustee for several others, both commercial and not-for-profit. He also advises agriholdings in eastern Europe.
History of Heathpatch
Heathpatch Ltd was formed in 1997 as a reinvestment relief company, to invest in farmland as a distinct separate entity to land already owned and farmed by the Buckle family.
Brian and Gill Buckle first purchased farmland at Dairy Farm, Semer in 1973 with some 120 acres. They then moved to Dairy Farm in 1976. Brian’s business was Ellis and Buckle Ltd, a Loss Adjuster, and he commuted to London daily. Gill’s family business was Palmer and Harvey Ltd, a tobacco and confectionery wholesaler. Over the next ten years the farm continued to expand with debt finance.
In 1986 Brian sold Ellis and Buckle Ltd to Rutland Trust enabling him to retire and to re-finance the farming operation. In 1988 Gill’s family sold Palmer and Harvey Ltd to a management buyout, allowing the farming operation to continue to expand with the eventual creation of Heathpatch Ltd.
Heathpatch has continued to expand, buying adjacent land as it has come onto the open market. It also purchased the original farms, from the Family, in return for shares. In 1990 James Buckle returned to Suffolk and took over the running of the farm