Judging Panel

Richard was born and brought up in East Sussex, where he still lives, and where he learned to shoot from an early age and acquired a lifelong love of the countryside and its bird and wildlife. His working career before being invited to be chairman of Purdey’s in 1995, included a year as under cowman on a local dairy farm, 18 months as a London based PRO for Kenya’s Pyrethrum industry, and joining the marketing department of Sussex cider maker Merrydown plc in 1965, where he became CEO in 1981.

The Duke of Wellington is Chairman of Richemont Holdings UK and of King’s College London. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1979-1989, Chairman of Sun Life and Provincial Holdings plc from 1995-2000, and of Framlington Group from 1993-2005. He was also a Commissioner of English Heritage from 2003-2007. The Duke of Wellington and his family have been involved in shooting and conservation for many years, owning estates in Hampshire, Scotland and Spain.

The Duchess of Devonshire has been a member of the judging panel since the start of the Purdey Awards in 1999. A lifelong shooting and conservation enthusiast, she is also an expert horsewoman, keen dog trainer, and picker-up at family shoot days at Chatsworth.

Head Keeper for H M The Queen at Sandringham since 2001 and a Purdey Awards judge since 2003, David is a founder member of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, and a former winner of the Awards when at Raby.

A well known country artist, Will has illustrated over 30 sporting books, including Will’s Shoot and Will’s Shoot Revisited. He is a previous Awards winner, for a project to turn disused gravel pits into a sporting sanctuary. Will has been a member of the Countryside Alliance Conservation Committee, BASC Shooting Committee and Woodpigeon Working Group, and regularly writes for Shooting Gazette.

Malcolm was born and bred in Perthshire, and has now returned to live there after 40 years in London, 10 with Robert Fleming in the City and 30 as an art dealer. He served as a judge on the Laurent-Perrier Awards for 11 years and on the Purdey Awards for the last 10. He is a keen stalker, fisherman and shot.

Regularly voted one of the best shots in the country, Jonathan is a partner in CKD Kennedy Macpherson, and specialises in the sale of sporting estates. He has expert knowledge of game conservation and shoot management, and joined the Purdey Awards judging panel in 2003.

Charles Nodder is a political and PR consultant, specialising in rural affairs. He advises the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation and the Game Farmers’ Association, and was previously a director of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. A game shooter, rough shooter and wildfowler, he is also amateur gamekeeper for his own shoot in Dorset. Charles was appointed a Purdey Award judge in 2008.

A former director of the Countryside Alliance and a well known advocate for all types of fieldsports, Caroline has practical as well as academic experience of conservation issues, both in the UK and in Africa. She joined our panel in 2004.

Jonathan is Editor of The Field, and has also edited Shooting Times. A countryman to his fingertips, Jonathan is highly knowledgeable on a wide range of countryside matters, a passionate conservationist, keen fisher, and no mean shot. He joined the Purdey Awards panel in 1999.

Tim is a Founder and Director of Oakbank Game & Conservation Ltd. He comes from a Cambridgeshire farming family, and is passionate about wildlife habitat creation on farmland, a passion he is able to indulge through his work with Oakbank. Keen shot and fly-fisherman, he joined the panel in 2011.

Hamish was born and raised in the Pentland Hills south west of Edinburgh, where grouse and low ground conservation and shooting were part of growing up. He has worked both within, and as a consultant to, the brewing industry. Outside business, shooting, stalking and fishing are Hamish’s principle occupations. He has been on our panel since 2011.

Born and raised in South Africa, Marcus Janssen grew up on a farm in rural KwaZulu Natal before moving to the UK to study and embark on a career in journalism. Janssen spent five years in Scotland, studying for a MA in Environmental Geography where he made the most of the Scottish countryside and embraced his love of field sports. Upon graduating, he moved to London to pursue a career in journalism. Janssen, who is also a keen fly fisherman and an experienced game shot, is the editor of Fieldsports magazine.

Bertie Hoskyns Abrahall is a partner at Withers, heading up the Landed Estates team specialising in rural legal issues. Hoskyns Abrahall is formerly a trustee of the GWCT. He grew up on the family estate in Teesdale where shooting and conservation were prominent features of his upbringing and he is a firm believer in the great environmental benefits to the British countryside through the management of land for shooting.

Jonathan grew up on the Island of Anglesey where he developed his great passion for shooting and the countryside. Now Head of Sales for Purdey, Jonathan, previously worked as General Manager at Woburn Abbey with its world famous Deer Heard and before that he worked as General Manager of The West London Shooting School. Having been lucky enough to have travelled the length and breadth of country in his roles within the industry, Jonathan believes the shooting community should be rightly proud of its remarkable long term management of the countryside and the numerous and demonstrable environmental and ecological benefits this has provided.