The Team

We are a small team, that have a passion for our community

Jane Easom

Committee member

I met my husband at The Black Horse so it has a lot to answer for!

I moved into Hillside Farm in 1985. Richard & I farmed in the village for 58 years & 33 years respectively until we retired from our tenanted farm in 2018.

We had to leave our farmhouse but could not bear to leave Grimston. Luckily we were able to stay in this very special & friendly village.

I continue to work as a bookkeeper but retirement is within sight!

I have lots of interests:- gardening, cooking, reading, painting, DIY, eating out, friends, walking & HIIT classes.

Grimston & the villagers made lockdown not so grim.

Carol Davis

Committee Secretary

I have lived in Grimston since 2012 when we moved from Houghton on the Hill to enable us to keep my daughter’s horse at home. My husband, Ray, is a retired lecturer and he can trace his family back many generations in Houghton where he was a Parish Councillor and School Governor until we moved. We have welcomed the more rural setting that is reminiscent of how Ray remembers Houghton in his youth. Our daughter, Alix, works at a local medical practice.

I was Treasurer of Houghton on the Hill village hall for over 30 years before moving to Grimston and my day job is in the agricultural industry. I have been passionate about agriculture all my life, particularly cattle and sheep, and specialise in genetics and business analysis, identifying why some farm businesses are in the top 25% for profitability and others in the bottom 25%.

Becky Vickers

Committee Member

I moved to Grimston in 1984 with my parents from Great Dalby which is where I started life. My Mother still lives in the same cottage to this day.

I returned to the village in 2002 when my husband and I undertook restoring a derelict farm building next to my mother’s cottage and where we have lived since.

My work involves specialist investigation of building subsidence and the negotiation for the Insurers with all parties to achieve repairs and tree management where needed. This follows from being Co Sec of a specialist insurance broker handling medical insurance for travellers and the negotiations with overseas hospitals and transport facilities.

A few years ago I started riding again, having ridden when first living in Grimston, and now have my own horse stabled at Vale View. All the daily chores still need my input so a long day with a full time job to get a ride as well as sorting the muckier side of horse ownership.

Along with my husband we have an interest in classic cars and are waiting patiently for the opportunity to get out in them again. We now have two large dogs, one rehomed from the military and one taken in as a rescue from the streets.

My other main interest is music as I have been playing thepiano since I was age 6 and more recently studied through the Open University to gain my BA Hons

Tony Moore

Treasurer

My wife Claire, and I have lived in Grimston for more than thirty years and for almost all of my life my home has been within ten miles of the village. As a Chartered Accountant I spent over forty years with an accountancy practice firmly based in the East Midlands and retired finally five years ago. During my career whilst acting for a variety of mainly owner managed businesses I tended to specialise in auditing and risk management and doing the jobs that no one else would do!

Mike Petty

Chair

We moved to Grimston in 2016 from Loughborough, where we had lived since 1992. We wanted to have a larger garden and more space for our bees (bees and close neighbours in a town setting are not a good combination!). My wife, Rosie, is a retired teacher. Two of our four children are boomerangs and returned home for the duration.

I have been in business for 25-years. Prior to that, I was a University lecturer. I am currently a director of three private limited companies, have been a trustee of a charity with a £35M-turnover and am currently a trustee of the Leicestershire & Rutland Beekeepers Association. Until recently, I taught business skills at Loughborough University.

Ben Skailes

Vice Chair

Originally from Shropshire, but have lived in Grimston then Saxelbye for the last 16 years. Previously worked in London for a Dutch bank and a US commodity broking firm before studying for a Masters degree at Nottingham University Business School. Joined the family cheese business in Cropwell Bishop in 2004. Sales Director since 2009.

Interests include cars, shooting, hunting, fiddling about on boats and lager!

Martin Stainton

Committee Member

Marie and I move to the village just over 7 years now and still can’t believe our luck in finding such a wonderful place.
I recently retired after a career in business supporting UK and Ireland Manufacturing and Utilities with their engineering and maintenance needs. I now work with the Princes Trust helping young people to develop their plans to establish their own businesses. I am also a member of the Village Hall Committee.
I love long hikes in the Peak District but you’ll also find us taking not so taxing walks with Billy the Bichon around the village.

Simon Downward