Red Tractor chief executive, Jim Moseley has announced he will retire in April 2026.
“After 50 years in the food and drink industry, and nine years as chief executive of Red Tractor, now is the right time for me to take a step-back to enable more personal time,” Jim Moseley said. “I will leave Red Tractor in a strong position to support the future of British food and farming, with a board, a leadership team and tremendous employees who have the skills, knowledge, experience and dedication to carry Red Tractor forward.
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the team at Red Tractor for their immense contribution and hard work. Assurance is not an easy occupation, but the team at Red Tractor deliver their roles with huge professionalism and extraordinary resilience. This team is one of the strongest I have had the pleasure of working with. Red Tractor’s recognition by the World Health Organisation as a ‘global exemplar of a voluntary assurance programme’ is testament to their abilities and the quality of the scheme.”
In recent years, Red Tractor has been embroiled in controversies, such as when it attempted to introduce the Greener Farms Commitment, a bolt-on environmental module launched with minimal farmer consultation, which critics feared would shift costs to producers while benefiting retailers. That episode triggered internal governance reviews, and concerns about Red Tractor’s independence and oversight. More recently, the scheme has pledged reforms such as simplifying audits, improving communication with farmers, and embracing technology in response to an independent farm assurance review that called for a “reset” of standards and trust in the system.
Moseley has worked in every aspect of food and drink, starting out in primary agriculture before moving into food manufacturing, responsible for some of the UK’s biggest food brands. He’s represented the industry as president of the Food and Drink Federation, chair of the Provision Trade Federation, Member of Food Drink Europe and as an industry representative of various government groups including the Trade & Agriculture Commission. He became chief executive of Red Tractor in 2017, having previously served as its chair for two years.
Moseley will remain in post for the remainder of the 2025/26 financial year, enabling time for the recruitment of a new chief executive while Red Tractor continues to focus on its current priorities, including delivering the recommendations set out in the Farm Assurance Review.