About Us

Paul Jennings

Director

Paul grew up on a dairy farm on the Cheshire-Welsh border where his family were tenant farmers with a herd of 280 cows. Despite his love of farming and the countryside, it was clear he was never going to follow in his father’s footsteps so, unsure of his career path, he decided to go to university and see where life took him.

Following four years studying, Paul spent the next 12 years working in the dairy sector, firstly in dairy manufacturing and latterly as a farm liaison officer for a milk buying group. Towards the end of this period, Paul was given the opportunity to move into farmer communications and gained his CIPR diploma, thereby paving the way for him to join ABC.

A perfectionist and a stickler for punctuation and grammar, Paul can’t even send a text message with abbreviated language. He enjoys being a part of the wider farming community and loves to spend time outside, venturing down farm drives. Finding ABC gave Paul the opportunity to join a respected communications brand and to work with clients across a variety of agricultural sectors.

Today Paul helps clients to communicate with their audiences via traditional press and print outlets, and also via online and video channels. His key skill is to take a complex subject such as ‘crop protection chemistry’ or ‘the use of micro technologies to analyse livestock behaviour’ and communicate them in a simple, down to earth format which is relevant to farmers. His reward is seeing his words in print and knowing that the client’s message has been accurately communicated.

When he’s not writing Paul quite simply can’t sit still, it’s not in his nature. He channels this energy by getting out and about on two wheels: his early interest in farm machinery has transferred across to motorbikes but he also enjoys two wheels without an engine, spending most of his free time looking over hedges as he cycles the length and breadth of the countryside.

Tom Hunt

Director

Tom grew up in England’s city of steel, Sheffield. He attended Lancaster University and spent a year at university in New York studying American Literature. A keen writer from a young age, Tom produced his school and university college magazines. Following graduation in 2003 he worked as an account manager in three marketing agencies before the bubble burst in 2009 following the recession.

Sitting with a copy of the local newspaper’s job section, Tom’s wife saw an advert for ‘Sales & Marketing Manager: Earl of Plymouth Estates’ and prompted him to apply with “you’ll get that” as words of encouragement. She was right! During the following six years Tom developed the marketing for an 8000-acre estate, including its highlight, the Ludlow Food Centre. He developed a marketing strategy for the estate that helped to grow the turnover of its group of food and hospitality businesses from £1.7 million to over £5 million in five years. Along the way he gained a great appreciation of farming practices and food production, becoming a prominent figure in the ‘farm to fork’ movement. Tom also volunteered to be on the board of directors at Shropshire Tourism, spending five years helping to steer the organisation which included two years as Financial Director.

Following a year as Head of Marketing at regional land agent and livestock auctioneer Halls, Tom joined ABC in 2019. He brings with him a skill set of marketing strategy and a track record of increasing the turnover of the brands he has worked with. At ABC Tom works with clients on planning, budgeting and strategy whilst still finding time to indulge in his passion for writing content.

Tom enjoys swimming and rises before 6am to do a mile in his local swimming pool before work. This helps him balance his love of food: a keen cook, Tom prepares meals from scratch every night and still sources his meat from the estate he worked at. Tom has been with his wife Katharine since he was 18. She and his son William, who was born in 2017, are the centre of his world and he loves nothing more than to spend time with them, preferably near or on a beach.

Edd Mowbray

DIRECTOR

Growing up on a mixed farm in the Westcountry, Edd’s passion for agriculture was born from spending early mornings feeding livestock and dreaming of one day driving the shiny machinery used by the contractors.

After studying at Writtle College in Essex and a few harvests on large-scale arable farms in East Anglia, he spent the next five years cutting his teeth running a diverse private estate in Hertfordshire. Work consisted of everything from driving the combine and sprayer at harvest to setting up a log business, running biomass boilers and maintaining properties.

Edd’s writing journey began after spotting a job advert for a machinery writer in Farmers Weekly – he spent the next four and a half years at the title rising to senior machinery reporter. During his time at FW, he travelled extensively throughout the UK and Europe talking to farmers and manufacturers writing about everything from chainsaws to combines.

Edd developed a knack with a camera bringing about numerous magazine front covers along with hosting and contributing to the podcast, producing videos and winning the Omnia journalism award in 2019.

Sarah Alderton

CLIENT EXECUTIVE

Sarah’s passion for farming was sparked early, growing up in rural Cumbria where she spent much of her childhood helping out on friends’ farms. This love for agriculture deepened during her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Newcastle and Edinburgh Universities, where she not only gained hands-on farm experience but also had her pig research published in an academic journal.

She began her career as a Graduate Trainee with the NFU before joining Farmers Weekly, where she rose from Livestock Reporter to Livestock Editor. With over 17 years’ experience as a Farming Journalist and PR Consultant, Sarah, who joined ABC in 2025, has built a strong reputation for her in-depth knowledge of the livestock sector, winning several awards along the way. Her work has taken her across the globe, where she has witnessed a wide range of farming systems.

After a decade in London, Sarah returned to her roots in Cumbria in 2016 to raise her family. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking the fells with her two dogs, wild swimming, or relaxing on her paddleboard, while spending quality time with her husband and two children. She also manages a growing menagerie of animals, including a flock of 30 chickens, three ducks, and several bee hives.

What drives Sarah most is meeting farmers, hearing their stories, and working with clients who are making a real difference in UK farming. As Sarah says, “Every day is a school day when you’re an ag journalist.”

Aly Balsom

Account Manager

Aly’s passion for livestock stems from her childhood growing up on a smallholding in rural Suffolk. After numerous summers working with vets and dairy farmers, her interest took her to Newcastle University where she studied Zoology and undertook her final year’s dissertation on the University’s pig farm. A year spent working on a dairy farm on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand, cemented a love of dairying, eventually leading her to return to England, for her first job working for Kingshay. Here she developed her technical knowledge, speaking to dairy farmers, running research trials and writing technical notes.

She then made a career-defining move to Farmers Weekly where she rose from Livestock Reporter to Deputy Livestock Editor, working alongside fellow ABC Account Manager, Sarah Alderton. Then followed 13 years running her own business writing award-winning articles for the national farming press and offering PR support to agri businesses.

Away from her desk, Aly enjoys exploring the beautiful Avon valley with her black labrador, cooking up a storm in the kitchen and spending quality time with her husband and young son.

Caroline Francis

Financial Administrator

You know the saying “Getting to Denmark” which references the transformation of weak states into well-functioning developed countries? (It’s ok if you didn’t.) At ABC, we like to think of it as “Getting to Caro.”

Since the start of the company, Caro has been the linchpin of the business, flawlessly holding everything together with equal parts elbow grease and brain power. With 30 years’ worth of agency accounting experience, Caro has turned the financial side of ABC into a well-oiled machine. Her efficient and meticulous work eases the paperwork burden of invoicing and paying suppliers.

Growing up on a beef, dairy and sheep farm, agriculture has had a constant influence on Caro’s life. There’s nothing she enjoys more than the start of a new life during calving, and nothing more grounding than dealing with copious amounts of livestock passports and movement forms for the farm.

A fair-weather cyclist, Caro can make a mean coffee and walnut cake, and enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Sarah Allin

Office Administrator

Born in Coventry but raised in Scotland, Sarah started out working for Mobil on a youth training scheme. She has always worked in telecoms and has a wealth of experience in business support. Sarah worked for Boots, BT and Roche before she made the move to Shrewsbury in the 1980’s. In Shrewsbury she spent 13 years working as a receptionist and cashier for a solicitor after having secured her first role in agricultural marketing with Agrafax.

In her role at Agrafax, Sarah led a support team that assisted Matt Mellor and David Butler who subsequently started ABC. Sarah has been with ABC since 2006. She assists the team by proofing and issuing client press releases, managing press lists, subscriptions and client advertising plans. She also helps organise an ever-increasingly complex schedule of work and meetings for our consultants.

Away from the office, Sarah is an avid reader with a passion for both fiction and non-fiction. She has two sons, Brodie and Finlay, who – when she can prise them away from their computer screens – she enjoys trips to the cinema and ten-pin bowling with. When the opportunity arises for some ‘me time’ Sarah appreciates getting out on the town for a night of live music and dancing. In more recent years Sarah has caught the travel bug and last year went to New York, Barcelona and Portugal on her travels. Next up is Prague!