A few weeks into his tenure as chief executive of the UK Agri-Tech Centre (UKATC), Steve McLean is thinking big - not incremental.
After 17 years leading agriculture and fisheries sourcing at UK retailer, Marks & Spencer, he sees a sector entering a defining period, one that demands sharper commercial discipline, faster routes to market, and closer collaboration between innovators and industry.
“We’re only at the end of week three, but I’m really excited to be leading the organisation,” he says. “I’ve been visiting our facilities and meeting teams across the UK. I’ve been blown away by the expertise we have - and by the scale of opportunity that agriculture presents for the UK Agri-Tech Centre.”
For McLean, the Centre’s purpose is clear: its primary customer is the UK agri-tech business.
“That’s a subtle but deliberate shift,” he explains. “Our role is to find great businesses with great technology and help them reach the market and scale faster than they could alone. We’re focused on companies that are scalable, purposeful, and aligned with what farmers and supply chains need, both domestically and internationally.”
Innovation grounded in reality
McLean believes his experience gives him practical insight into how innovation succeeds in the real world.
“I understand how supply chains operate, how to embed innovation in them, and the barriers to adoption at scale,” he says. “My background spans agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries, and a global context, so I see how farmers collaborate, where processors fit in, how retailers and brands operate, and why you need both the push from innovation and the pull from the market.”
The UK Agri-Tech Centre’s network of hubs, test, trial, and demonstration facilities, plus commercial farms, underpins this mission.
“Farmers believe farmers,” he says. “So, we must prove technology works not just in theory, but in real commercial farming. Our facilities provide the space and support for businesses and technologies to evolve and deliver solutions that are truly needed.”
“Technology in isolation is just technology,” he adds. “You need the push from innovation and the pull of the market. Supply chains now have a unique opportunity to rethink the status quo - their need to innovate has never been greater.”
He is pragmatic about economics.
“Investment isn’t free flowing; it’s targeted. The kit and technology must be robust, and innovators must have a credible track record. That’s where we help - validating technologies, providing commercial experience, and putting the support mechanisms in place so businesses can land and thrive.”
Precision ag
A venture company that the not-for-profit UKATC has supported is Antler Bio, a startup delivering gene expression data as a precision tool to support herd management.
Investment and global context
On venture capital, McLean is measured.
“The economic cycle has made investment tougher recently, but there’s still healthy appetite for technologies addressing resilience, crop quality under variable weather, varietal innovation, and robotics and AI.”
He notes that different investors operate at different stages of the agri-tech journey depending on scalability and impact, both domestically and internationally.
Farmer adoption is key
Adoption by farmers remains the ultimate test.
“Fragmented supply chains make large-scale adoption harder. It’s easier where there’s clear demand and innovation becomes part of the product specification. Integration across UK agriculture will continue, and that brings opportunity,” he says.
Farmers farm according to geography, rainfall, infrastructure, and business model. McLean stresses that must be respected:
“I don’t like ever using the term blueprint or standardising because farmers farm in a way that works for them. But if you’re clear on what the outputs you’re aiming for are, it will be easier to adopt certain technologies that add to the specification mix and help deliver a marketable point of difference for the end consumer.”
Despite global pressures - from disease threats to climate volatility - McLean remains optimistic:
“Every threat is an opportunity. The need for AgTech and for doing things differently has never been greater. We’re going to see more change in the next five years than we’ve seen in the last 25 years. Climate disruption, political realities around the globe, supply chain disruption - each of these creates an opportunity for AgTech to deliver.”
At the same time, he is realistic.
“It must make economic sense to the farming business. Profitability matters. And policy and support mechanisms play a role - every country has its own set of challenges around how it supports agriculture. As a society, we have choices to make as to what industries we support and what benefit we seek to get as a result of that support.”
McLean also emphasises the importance of careers in farming.
“We need to make sure that people can see long-term careers and career progression with the industry, and how we play our part in addressing challenges around climate disruption and nature.
“Technology can help us work smarter, not longer or harder.”
Defining success
Looking ahead to his first 12 months, McLean defines success as cementing the Centre as the partner of choice for UK agri-tech businesses and bringing more impactful technologies to market.
“I want us to really utilise our test, trial, and demonstration facilities to the benefit of those businesses, but also the benefit of the industry.
“Ultimately, I want the organisation to be recognised for the impact it makes - tangible impact in farming systems, in supply chains, and in food production, in a world facing unprecedented challenges and where the climate is a lot more disrupted than any of us would like.”