Chris Clayton Agrovista UK MD cropped

Chris Clayton

Former regional manager at Syngenta Chris Clayton has been appointed as managing director of crop protection and agronomy firm Agrovista UK.

Clayton, who joins after heading up Syngenta’s integrated crop protection and seeds business for central Europe, said he plans to take Agrovista forward into its “next phase of growth and success”.

“This will come from leveraging the outstanding technical knowledge within the team, coupled with the market-renowned development work being generated from the Agrovista R&D platform,” he said.

“We also have some very strong relationships with progressive key suppliers, which when linked to the rapid developments in the agricultural market will bring many exciting new solutions to growers all over the UK.”

Agrovista UK group chairman, James Robertson, said: “Chris’s experience and knowledge of agrochemicals, seed and European markets matches Agrovista’s development plans perfectly.

“As a division of the Marubeni Corporation, our aim is to capitalise on the wider business’s other activities. For example, Marubeni is the second largest grain shipper in the world with a substantial fertiliser activity; both these areas present huge opportunities for the growth of Agrovista’s UK business.”

Clayton has previously held marketing and operational roles within Syngenta, including country head for Hungary and the UK business’ head of sales and marketing.

He graduated from Newcastle University with a BSc in agriculture, and begin his career with ICI Agrochemicals.

Agrovista UK is part of Agrovista BV, which is itself part of the international Marubeni Corporation.