Andy Wood OBE

Why did you choose Cranfield?

Andy Wood is the CEO of Adnams, a Regional Brewer, Wine Merchant and Hotelier. Andy has been with Adnams for over 10 years and has played a key role in making it one of the most environmentally friendly businesses in the world. Adnams' value proposition is built around a set of social and organisational values, and Andy wanted to know more about how to make this proposition work on a sustainable basis so he decided to make this the subject of his DBA studies. He chose to study at Cranfield because it had a strong reputation for bridging the gap between academia and practice.  

What was Cranfield's impact

Andy's studies helped him to successfully steer Adnams through a difficult economic period in a highly competitive market. One of the changes that he introduced was the replacement of the one-hundred year old brewing system with one that has outstanding green credentials providing dramatic energy and water savings. As a result the business has won many environmental awards. The company has an informal teamworking structure based around a strong set of organisational values, and this approach has contributed to a transformation in its fortunes. 

Andy is also the chairman of a drugs and alcohol harm reduction charity. In 2013, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.