Greg Smith was born in Norwich, Norfolk and educated at Norwich School (1965-75). He graduated in Agricultural and Food Marketing at Newcastle University. 30-plus year business career as a market researcher, leading marketing services companies including Taylor Nelson Sofres and Ipsos MORI. 

He returned to Norfolk in 2011 and was CEO of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association until he retired in 2020. He now provides management consultancy to a range of organisations in agri-tech, digital marketing and higher education. 

An Army reservist from 1981-2016, his final appointment was as the 2-star policy director for Reserves and Youth in the Ministry of Defence until 2013. He was awarded the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal in 2008 and became a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the New Years’ Honours list 2013. Greg chairs the UK’s Council of Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Associations, an arms-length body of the MOD, and is an Honorary Colonel of the London Regiment. 

Greg maintains his connections with Newcastle University, chairing the board of its Business School from 2009-14, and as a member of Court. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Newcastle University in 2021 and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of East Anglia. He is a founding Trustee of the Food and Farming Discovery Trust - an agricultural education charity, and chairs Active Norfolk the county’s sports and activity partnership, funded by Sport England. 



Married to Rebecca, they have three grown up children and six grandchildren. They ‘enjoy’ walking, boating, gardening and following the Canaries. They also have a small flock of Boreray sheep, keep bees and unruly hens.