In this podcast season, curated in partnership with Somerset Chamber of Commerce, hgkc are exploring Somerset with prominent business leaders who have made their lives and their careers in the county. In this episode, Peter Quintana speaks to Karl Tucker. 

Karl joined Yeo Valley in 1996 as they were expanding and developing the organic and quirky brand that we see today, rising to become their Chair in 2021. In 2017 he joined the Heart of the South LEP, becoming their Chair in 2019, and then went on to become chair of the Great South West in 2023, one of the few public private partnerships in the UK, along with the Midland Engine and the Northern Powerhouse, receiving funding from the Government.

He talks about his utopia - to see all 4000 jobs at Agratas filled by young people coming out of college now and doing apprenticeships. He is acutely aware of the challenges facing Somerset and the rest of the Great South West – to persuade inward investors that the education and skills sector will produce the workforce needed, and that workforce has the infrastructure – housing, transport, broadband – to live.

He is not afraid to say that he thinks we underestimate the scale of the problem, but he also says that the willingness and desire to make it better for investors is there, and if we can get this right, there is nowhere better in the country to locate and live and work and operate from.

If you would like find out more about the Great South West, visit their website here,   or you can contact Karl here.

If you would like more information about hgkc help clients navigate their business towards their goals, please contact us here.