The RHS Council is responsible for the strategic direction of the Society and for overseeing its management and administration. Council comprises the President, Treasurer, 15 ordinary members and up to two co-opted members. The members of Council also act as the Trustees of the Society. The President acts as the Chairman of Council.
Elizabeth Banks DL, CMLI, RHS President
Elizabeth Banks was elected to Council in 2007 and re-elected as RHS President in 2011. Elizabeth is a landscape architect, and along with
her husband, Lawrence Banks, who is a Vice President of the Society, she manages the Hergest Estate and Hergest Croft Gardens which
extend to more than 70 acres.
Elizabeth is a local councillor and trustee of several other charities including the Gateway Gardens Trust, and is chairman of the Queenswood Coronation Fund. She is also a member of the Arboreta Advisory Committee for Westonbirt Arboretum and Bedgebury Pinetum.
RHS Treasurer: Sir Nicholas Bacon Bt, OBE, DL
RHS Council members
- George Anderson
- Mark Fane
- Rosie Atkins
- David Haselgrove
- James Alexander-Sinclair
- The Hon Sarah Joiner
- Michael Balston
- Jekka McVicar
- Christopher Blundell
- David Morrison
- Dennis Espley
- Alastair Muirhead
- Raymond Evison OBE, VMH
- Dougal Philip
- Professor Peter Gregory
- Prunella Scarlett LVO
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The RHS Leadership Team is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.
Sue Biggs, RHS Director General
Sue joined the RHS in 2010, with 30 years’ experience in the international leisure industry. In 1982 she began a 25 year career that started as a Product Executive creating faraway holidays, and ended with nine years as Managing Director of the UK’s leading long-haul tour operator.
Sue’s two passions in life are travel and all things horticultural. For many years she has been a member of the RHS and a regular visitor
to RHS gardens and shows. She has found time in her busy working life to design six gardens for friends, her own riverside garden in Sunbury-onThames, and has even built a three acre garden from scratch at the farmhouse she and her husband, Paul, restored in Umbria, Italy.
Director of Shows: Stephen Bennett
Head of Community & Development: Ruth Evans
Director of Horticulture: Jim Gardiner
Head of Retail: Will Havercroft
Director of Gardens: James Rudoni
Head of HR: Kerry Smith
Head of Science: Roger Williams
Director of Members, Media & Art: Dan Wolfe
Director of Finance: James Hiley
Head of Internal Audit & IT: Jan Nix
Secretary: James Hiley
Source: HortiTrends News Room
