DEFRA's director for floods and water, Sarah Hendry (pictured), is to leave her post in mid October to take on the role of director general of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), a membership organisation for the owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales.
Hendry has been a civil service director since 2006, and held roles in the Department of Health and DEFRA before taking up the floods and water post in April 2015. Among her recent achievements in water is leading the Department's work on business retail market opening. More broadly, Hendry has lead the government’s decontamination and recovery work in Salisbury since March.
The CLA seeks to safeguard the interests of all those with an economic, social and environmental interest in rural land. CLA members own or manage around half the rural land in England and Wales, and are involved in 250 different types of business.