Director Profile - Karen Hester 17
NEW DIRECTOR BRINGS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE TO THE FRAM FARMERS BOARD Karen Hester, who was elected to Full Board Directorship at Fram Farmers’ AGM in November, has had a remarkable career and brings a very different perspective to the cooperative. Embracing change, taking on new challenges and succeeding have characterised Karen Hester’s life, leading to some remarkable achievements. Chief Operating Officer of award-winning brewer and distiller Adnams PLC, Karen has been with the company for 29 years, was the first woman appointed to its Board since the business was founded in 1872 and is now responsible for managing a diverse operation with 520 staff and an £88 million annual turnover, that continues to expand. Established in 1872, Adnams is probably best-known as a brewer of beer in the picturesque coastal town of Southwold, Suffolk. While brewing remains at the heart
Adnams’ award-winning distribution centre in Suffolk.
of its activities, Adnams also produces a range of award-winning spirits from the same locally-sourced grains as are used to make its beers. Adnams also owns and manage pubs, inns and hotels, has retail stores across East Anglia, and operates an e-commerce website where customers can shop online. FIGHTING INJUSTICE Growing up in the village of Reydon near Southwold, Karen wanted to become a barrister or join the army. Without the money to pursue the former, she enlisted at the age of 16 and loved army life. Just 10 months later Karen was named best recruit, promoted to lance corporal and the following year became the youngest female in the UK to obtain an HGV licence. From driving trucks and ambulances to being responsible for security on The Mall in London during the wedding of
Prince Charles and Princess Diana, she accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience in the army. But that career was short-lived. Married at 18, Karen became pregnant two years later just before being posted to Germany and the army gave her a stark choice: have an abortion or leave. Having chosen the latter, she was given 24 hours to vacate the couple’s MOD house and the image of her furniture being removed to make way for another family remains vivid in her mind. Sitting outside in the rain, her husband already in Germany, she wondered if it was just a bad dream. So strongly did Karen feel about being forced to decide between career and family that she became the first woman to take the Ministry of Defence to court for sexual discrimination. But it was a long, testing process that took six years and would not have been possible without the knowledge and support of the Rt Hon. Norman Lamb, a solicitor who subsequently became the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. Karen admits that it would have been easy to take the money the MOD offered to settle out of court, but she felt the situation was so unjust and wanted to have her say. She won the case, which opened the floodgates for thousands of women in a similar situation, and is the reason that combining a family with a career is now possible. This titanic struggle for justice Karen now rates as her biggest achievement, despite a career marked by continual progression and success. NEW HORIZONS When Karen joined Adnams in 1988 as a part-time cleaner working night shifts, she could never have imagined how that role would take her on a journey which has involved ever-greater responsibilities. Two years later, with her first child at nursery school, Karen decided to leave Adnams for a day job, but asked the HR manager to let her know if any vacancies became available. The following week she was offered a job in stores and procurement. She mentioned her