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At J.O. Sims, we value people more than anything. Our dedicated, talented and experienced team deliver amazing results and makes our business possible. A multidisciplinary group that puts quality at the heart of our organisation.
Our dedicated, talented and experienced teams deliver amazing results and makes our business possible.
A multidisciplinary group that puts quality at the heart of our organisation.
Under Christopher’s leadership, the company has been transformed into a market leader. He began his career working on fruit farms in South Africa and at the company’s wholesale premises in New Covent Garden in the 1980s.
Soon he moved to the Borough Market offices where he started a direct sales department for the import business, which quickly gained an international reputation for its innovation and expertise in the fresh fruit market. The business expanded beyond its capacity and in the 1990s relocated to Lincolnshire.
Christopher founded the company’s farming division in 1992 with the first purchase of land in Washington State USA, then later developed farms in Chile, Canada, Spain, and South Africa.
He has travelled the world extensively and is passionate about responsibly cultivated produce.
James has been a Director of the company for 15 years. He holds three degrees, including two at Masters level, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
James takes a keen interest in the company’s fruit-growing activities around the world, as well as its infrastructure, innovation and business direction.
James splits his time between the Spalding office and London, where he also runs the company’s property department. He has managed the development of six mixed-use buildings in Borough Market in London. In 2020, he oversaw the construction of the company’s new state-of-the-art fruit pack house, transforming the way we serve our customers.
Beyond the office, he enjoys cycling, open water swimming, and architectural history.
Andrew read engineering at university and was sponsored by ICI Petrochemicals & Plastics. His degree provided a breadth of knowledge across all elements of engineering, including manufacturing general management, financial management and biomechanics. A prize-winning student, he joined one of the UK’s top 50 accountancy firms where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
His love of business drove his career, firstly with healthcare providers Smith & Nephew PLC, and then with food giant Cargill PLC. Andrew remained in the food industry & joined J.O. Sims in 2005, leading the group’s financial portfolio. With Andrew at the financial helm, the business has doubled its turnover.
A family man with two boys, away from the office, he prefers to be outdoors, ideally on two wheels.
Darren leads the procurement team and has literally grown up with the company, working with Christopher at J.O. Sims for over 34 years.
Darren’s passion is buying cherries globally for the company, planting new varieties and farming with like-minded partners with the vision to deliver supply 52 weeks of the year.
Darren has become a well-recognised industry expert in cultivating high-quality fresh fruit, with a particular talent for growing the best cherries in the world.
Darren has been able to combine his love of travel with his interest in motorsport, visiting numerous international racing events.
He also enjoys Snowboarding, running, Chelsea FC and his loyal Greyhound “Dakota”.
Jacqui studied business at university, before joining Nabisco as a finance graduate. Her career in food manufacturing businesses was set and continued in the early days with her first buying role at the New Covent Garden Soup Company.
She later continued to hone her procurement skills with Bakkavor and then Weetabix, where prior to joining J.O. Sims, Jacqui also led
company-wide improvement projects.
Recently joining the business, Jacqui is responsible for sales & development for the Ingredients Department. Her previous experience & learnings will take the ingredients business & J.O. Sims to the next phase of its growth, driven by her passion & motivation as a team leader, to develop people & ensure they reach their full potential.
Away from work, Jacqui enjoys cycling and the theatre.
Registered in England no: 02084187.
Registered Office: Pudding Lane, Spalding,
Lincolnshire, PE11 3TJ, UK
J.O. Sims Ltd All Rights Reserved. Website Designed by MacMartin.
Christopher began his career working on fruit farms in South Africa and at the company’s wholesale premises in New Covent Garden in the 1980s.
Soon he moved to the Borough Market offices, where he started a direct sales department for the import business, which quickly gained an international reputation for its innovation and expertise in the fresh fruit market. The business expanded beyond its capacity and in the 1990s relocated to Lincolnshire.
Christopher founded the company’s farming division in 1992, with the first purchase of land in Washington State USA, then later developed farms in Chile, Canada, Spain, and South Africa.
He has travelled the world extensively and is passionate about responsibly cultivated produce; under his leadership the company has been transformed into a market leader.
James has been a Director of the company for 15 years. He holds three degrees, including two at Masters level, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
James takes a keen interest in the company’s fruit-growing activities around the world, as well as its infrastructure, innovation and business direction.
James splits his time between the Spalding office and London, where he also runs the company’s property department. He has managed the development of six mixed-use buildings in Borough Market in London. In 2020, he oversaw the construction of the company’s new state-of-the-art fruit pack house, transforming the way we serve our customers.
Beyond the office, he enjoys cycling, open water swimming, and architectural history.
Andrew read engineering at university and was sponsored by ICI Petrochemicals & Plastics.
His degree provided a breadth of knowledge across all elements of engineering, including manufacturing general management, financial management and biomechanics. A prize-winning student, he joined one of the UK’s top 50 accountancy firms where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
His love of business drove his career, firstly with healthcare providers Smith & Nephew PLC, and then with food giant Cargill PLC. Andrew remained in the food industry & joined J.O. Sims in 2005, leading the group’s financial portfolio. With Andrew at the financial helm, the business has doubled its turnover.
A family man with two boys, away from the office, he prefers to be outdoors, ideally on two wheels.
Darren leads the procurement team and has literally grown up with the company, working with Christopher at J.O. Sims for over 34 years.
Darren’s passion is buying cherries globally for the company, planting new varieties and farming with like-minded partners with the vision to deliver supply 52 weeks of the year.
Darren has become a well-recognised industry expert in cultivating high-quality fresh fruit, with a particular talent for growing
the best cherries in the world.
Darren has been able to combine his love of travel with his interest in motorsport, visiting numerous international racing events. He also enjoys snowboarding, running, Chelsea FC and his loyal Greyhound “Dakota”.
Jacqui studied business at university, before joining Nabisco as a finance graduate.
Her career in food manufacturing businesses was set and continued in the early days with her first buying role at the New Covent Garden Soup Company. She later continued to hone her procurement skills with Bakkavor and then Weetabix, where prior to joining J.O. Sims, Jacqui also led company-wide improvement projects.
Recently joining the business, Jacqui is responsible for sales & development for the Ingredients Department. Her previous experience & learnings will take the ingredients business & J.O. Sims to the next phase of its growth, driven by her passion & motivation as a team leader, to develop people & ensure they reach their full potential.
Away from work, Jacqui enjoys cycling and the theatre.