News Beat
Former IT boss Phil Tottie elected chairman of Tockwith Show
Phil Tottie, who lives in Cattal, has become the new Chair of Tockwith Show, replacing Georgina Watson, a member of the Rural Management Team for Savills York.
Phil was Director of IT for HSBC – a job which took him all over the world.
Although he freely admits he knows nothing about agriculture, he is confident that his job as the Chair doesn’t necessarily require that.
Phil said: “What I do have and can bring to the event is organisational skills. I’m used to running big teams, but as Chair I really will rely on people who know a lot about the show and have been involved in it for a long time.
“Ultimately it’s all about team work. No one person knows it all and the collective brain is far more superior than the single brain.”
Georgina Watson, who has been Chair for five years, recalls her tenure as being a heady mixture of challenge, excitement and a huge amount of fun.
Georgina said: “I took over in 2020 and the following year we had to cancel the show because of the Covid outbreak so it was a daunting task to take on the job of getting the show back up after that, but throughout my time as Chair I have had the support of the most amazing team of volunteers and it is great to have seen the way the show has not only come back, but come back stronger than ever at a time when many other agricultural shows have faced bleak times and for some even closure.”
She said that her earliest memories of Tockwith Show was a child and those still stay with her today.
“It’s a very special event for the region and I feel immensely proud and privileged to have been working with such a great team to ensure the show remains an important day out for the community and particularly for the agricultural community who are just as important to our region as they were when I first visited the show all those years ago.
“It’s always been important to make it a great family day out, but equally important an opportunity to show just how important farming is to the community and the economy of this region.”
Phil agreed: “It’s vitally important to use the show not just to educate people about farming, but also to use it to give support to the farming community especially now, given what this Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) has done to them, to help ensure that there continues to be a thriving farming community in this region in the future.”
More than 120 trophies and just over £6000 in prize money is handed out on the day, making this one of the largest agricultural shows in the region.
The Show Committee have decided that the 2026 show will be held on Sunday August 2 and the theme for the event will be goats.
