Meet Our Leadership Team
Meet the GA Pet Food Partners leadership team and discover more about their roles, their expertise, and the teams they lead to bring you the world’s finest pet food.
Roger
Bracewell
Chairman
Roger attended Millfield School in Somerset and then spent his gap year running the family farm after the farm manager took early retirement. He then spent three years at the Royal Agricultural College, studying Rural Estate Management, before working as a young land agent in Bolton.
In 1984, he returned to the family land agency business and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1985. He joined his father as a partner in the family farming and land agency business in 1986. The farming business started to manufacture dry extruded pet food in 1992, shortly before the death of Roger’s father, Tom Bracewell, in 1993.
As Chairman, Roger is responsible for the administrative side of the business, particularly the legal, environmental, and IT developments, as well as continuing to look after the farming business.
Giles
Bracewell
Director
Born and bred in Lancashire, Giles has been on the board of Golden Acres (GA Pet Food Partners) since its formation nearly 30 years ago.
Having qualified as a Chartered Surveyor, he worked in the leisure business before returning to take an active role at GA Pet Food Partners. His interests include wildlife and conservation, in addition to charitable causes.
Jim
Whittingham
Operations Director
Jim joined GA Pet Food Partners in 1991 after leaving agricultural college. Initially, he worked on the farm side of our business, but as the pet food division expanded, Jim moved into a production and operational role and is now responsible for both the manufacturing and distribution sites.
Over the years, Jim’s position has grown in line with the company, and he was promoted to the board in 2011. Jim enjoys cycling, skiing, and running his family smallholding in his spare time.
James
Bracewell
Sales Director
James started working at GA Pet Food Partners from an early age; he spent his school and university holidays gaining experience in different parts of the business. After graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Rural Land Management at the Royal Agricultural College in 2012, he worked for a number of national agents before returning home to the family surveying business and qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor.
Managing the family farm and property business, James made the move into GA full-time after working for a large veterinary group and completing his MBA at Manchester Business School in 2017.
William
Bracewell
Production Director
Will Bracewell joined GA Pet Food Partners in January 2012 as the Meat Kitchen Manager, although his association with GA extends back to 2006.
Will gained experience within extrusion while working towards his master’s degree in Food Production Management, acquiring expertise in food safety and lean manufacturing principles.
Outside of GA life, Will can be found working on the farm with his wife, Pippa, and their two children, Harry and George.
Diane
Metcalfe
Continuous Improvement Director
Diane joined GA in 2002, starting in the accounts and administration team. In more recent years, she has focused solely on GA Pet Food Partners’ financial welfare. In 2014, she was promoted to Cost Director, responsible for controlling costs and budgets across the company.
Alongside her role at GA, Diane is wife to John Metcalfe and a proud mother to two daughters. In her spare time, Diane enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, and camping (weather permitting). She is also a devoted leader of her local Beaver Scout group.
Georgina
Sims-Stirling
Communications Director
Georgina Sims-Stirling has been with GA Pet Food Partners for ten years, starting as a Field Account Manager in the South East and more recently as the Partner Experience Manager, managing GA’s digital transformation.
Georgina is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and hopes to be fully chartered next year and gain her Fellow membership status. She completed a postgraduate diploma in B2B digital marketing in 2020 and is looking to undertake an MBA in brand management.
She is a passionate supporter of women in business and a member of several supporting networks.
Outside of GA, Georgina enjoys spending every spare moment with her young family and her border terrier, Dotty.
Helen
Gibbon
Quality Director
Helen grew up in the Lake District and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Exeter in 2010. She began her career in the food manufacturing industry, working in the technical department of a global leader in ready-to-eat chilled meat products. During this time, Helen developed deep expertise and a passion for HACCP and food safety.
In 2017, Helen joined GA as the Raw Material Quality Manager. In this role, she leveraged her passion for food safety to successfully implement human-grade quality standards across the organisation. Over the years, Helen’s responsibilities have expanded within GA’s quality function, where she has consistently driven improvements and maintained rigorous quality assurance standards throughout all operations.
Helen resides on the Fylde coast with her husband, Luke, and their two sons, Jacob and Lewis. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, exploring museums, and spending time with her family.