Hume Brophy welcomes George Lyon, former MEP for Scotland and leading member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee during the last mandate, as a senior consultant.

Mr Lyon will become a senior member of Hume Brophy’s growing international agri-food group which provides corporate communications and government relations support throughout the Hume Brophy network to the agri-food sector.

Elected to the European Parliament in 2009, Mr Lyon quickly became a prominent and influential member of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs committee and played a central role in negotiating key aspects of agreements on both CAP reform and the EU budget. He also worked on issues related to trade policy, with a particular focus on EU relations with the US and the emerging negotiations on TTIP.

Mr Lyon was a member of the Scottish Parliament for Argyll & Bute (1999-2007) and served as deputy finance minister between 2005 and 2007. Prior to embarking on his political career, his long-term involvement with the National Farmers Union (NFU) led to him becoming President of NFU Scotland in 1998.

John Hume, founding partner of Hume Brophy, welcomed Mr. Lyon to the firm commenting:

“I am delighted that George Lyon is joining us as a senior consultant. His wealth of experience in the agri-food sphere means that he is uniquely placed to deliver top class insight and strategic advice to clients operating in this sector. His appointment will further strengthen our expertise in this area and is a reflection of our ambition to expand our growing agri-food practice.”

Speaking on his appointment, Mr Lyon said:

“I am very much looking forward to joining the team at Hume Brophy. The firm is clearly a leader in devising and implementing public affairs and communication strategies specific to the agri-food sector. Hume Brophy already has an impressive offer in terms of experience and expertise which has led to exciting growth for the firm in this area. I hope to help Hume Brophy to continue to build upon this success.”