Industry Influencers – Liam Stokes

In this new series, we will highlight key players in the trade why they are so influential.

We start with Liam Stokes, CEO of the British Game Alliance.

Liam has dedicated his career to the idea that game shooting and proper countryside management are a force for good. He has worked for many of the excellent institutions and organisations that make our community so vibrant, starting out at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (while it was still the GCT) before teaching, managing curriculum, running the shoot and helping manage the estate at Lackham College.

He has sat on British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) committees, written gamekeeping qualifications for City and Guilds, headed up campaigns for the Countryside Alliance and served as a senior Defra official.

This led him to his current position as CEO of the BGA.

Liam said: “To me, there is no job more exciting and nowhere from which I could do more to work for this community I love so dearly. I believe the BGA’s shoot assurance is the key to self-regulation and will not only secure our future into our own hands but also help us to continue growing the consumption of game.

“It is an exhilarating privilege to play a part in this self-regulation revolution. It is not without its challenges: we need to bring everyone together and demonstrate that we are at the service of game shooting, while working with all our partner organisations to leverage the idea of shoot assurance as a tool in the defence and promotion of game shooting. But it is a very exciting moment in the development of our sector.

“The Game Fair is a vital event in the BGA’s year. Nowhere else do we get to interact with such a large and diverse cross section of the community we are trying to serve. We missed this opportunity hugely last year, and we are looking forward to meeting anyone and everyone with a passion for game, to discuss the importance of assurance in our sector and how we can work together to shape the future of shooting.”