High Sheriff of Hampshire 2016 – 2017

Tom Floyd

Tom Floyd

It is a great honour to have been nominated High Sheriff of Hampshire and I am much looking forward to my year in office. My father’s family lived in Hursley, just south of Winchester, and most of my working life has been based in Hampshire.

Following a degree in Biochemistry at University College Oxford, my first job was working for BOCM Silcock in Basingstoke. This subsidiary of Unilever specialised in manufacturing feedstuffs for farm animals, which combined my work aspirations with a life-long love of the countryside and farming. I married Sarah during my time in Basingstoke, and Harry our elder son was born in Basingstoke hospital.

My Unilever career then took us to London, where our second son, John was born, and then four years living in Abidjan, West Africa. We returned in 1986 and came to live in Shalden where we have lived ever since. Further career moves took us to Holland and New York but always keeping our home here in Shalden. The latter part of my career was back in Basingstoke running Oxoid, a microbiology business, selling to hospital laboratories all around the world.

Since retiring from full time work, I have become Chairman of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation, which specialises in funding the smaller charitable organisations which do so much good in our local communities.

My personal interests include riding, fishing, tennis and gardening and our garden has been open under the NGS scheme for the last two years which we have much enjoyed. Our time is also increasingly absorbed by our sons, daughters-in-law and, with recent additions, seven grandchildren.