Sylvia Brown, chief executive of Action with Communities in Rural (ACRE) is retiring at the end of this month after 12 years in post.

An ACRE spokesperson said: ‘When Sylvia took over as chief executive of in 2001, she inherited a failing organisation with no sustainable income. She restored ACRE's viability, its membership base and its credibility in the national arena, and established new strong relationships, in particular, with Defra.