Tom Curtis

Associate

Tom is the Managing Director of the social enterprise Landshare and an expert in the sustainable management of land and resources. 

His professional and research background is in forestry and farm management. His work has included senior level estate management, organisational review and restructuring, and consultancy on integrated land management systems. He has carried out practice-orientated research and development, in particular developing standards and guidance for forestry management and restoration.

Tom has worked with partners, including Best Foot Forward, on developing systems for integrating information on resource hotspots in the food supply chain. This ‘FoodPrinting’ work has recently been used to investigate ways to reduce the land, water, energy, and greenhouse gas footprints of Oxford’s food system, in a project commissioned by the City Council. It is now being used to help assess risk and resilience in food businesses in Brighton and Hove. Tom has also carried out detailed work mapping energy intensity in farm business scenarios, as a means of managing long-term risk from input costs.

Tom has set up a number of successful projects to create a more sustainable agricultural economy. As director at a land owning charity in Oxfordshire, Tom established a programme called FarmStep to support ‘land entrepreneurs’ to start their own farming businesses. He has since developed this concept into a national programme called Land Partnerships, drawing together a range of industry partners. Tom established LandShare which he directs and he is the chair of the community owned food company, Cultivate.

Tom also has a life outside work! He likes to explore the hills with his mountain bike, or running, or sometimes with a climbing rope.  

Find Tom on LinkedIn.