Cow Talk
“Attitude is e verything...”
Marion Challenor: hows she’s survived be ing the only
woman in the AI industry
D
aughter of celebrated cattle
breeder Fred Williams, Mar-
ion Challenor is a woman
with attitude and aptitude for busi-
ness and people.
Since its modest beginnings in the
sixties the 43-year-old has taken
the business from strength to
strength, building up one of the
most successful Artificial Insemi-
nation companies within the UK at
present.
This may be an achievement in it-
self, but unbelievably the mother-
of-two also holds the title for being
the only woman heading an AI
company and being its majority
shareholder within the industry.
Marion first became involved with the
family business at the tender age of
seventeen, joining Semen World Ltd
along with her father Fred who had
already began marketing semen from
two of his formidable sires, Tredene
Jan Alidema and Descales Midnight.
“I basically left school, went to col-
lege for a year to do accountancy
and after finishing my course didn’t
really have a job to go to, so father
suggested working at Semen World
in the office. I did it just to tie me over
really, but ended up staying 27-years
later”, she
“
laughs.
However the late
1990’s saw a big turn
I guess
around for the Ponty-
pool-based company, that’s what
with Marion making a
huge decision which
would later thrust the
I enjoy- the
small business into
the bigger realms of
the industry.
challenge.
“There was a lot of
turn around when Genius brought
ABS [a stud out in the USA] in the
1990’s. Once they had purchased the
stud they owned their own production
facility, prior to that they were market-
Cow Talk
ing a lot of World Wide Sires (WWS)
product from the USA and the new
acquisition meant that they no longer
needed anyone elses product as they
had their own.”
“There were some merges of AI or-
ganisations, Avoncroft took over
Herdwise and Black and White Sires,
but after a short period went into liq-
uidation. At that time they were sell-
ing the WWS USA product, so WWS
really had to look at the UK market
and decide where they were going to
put their product, where they thought
they could get good growth. We were
lucky enough to have that opportu-
nity. So in 2001 we signed a contract
with the USA to sell all of their prod-
uct in this country. It was a turning
point in the history of the company. It
secured our product supply and un-
doubtedly gave us a far greater prod-
uct line than any of our competitors.”
The company has under-gone some
considerable adjustments in the past
three years in order to adapt to the
change, including bringing in a new
board of directors and shareholders
and re-locating the business from the
family farm to a much larger prem-
ises where everything is structured
under one roof.
“With all busi-
“ nesses you get to
the stage where
you realise that
you need to imple-
ment many
changes to be
able to cope with
the growth.
Changes are al-
ways very difficult
to implement and
it’s always chal-
lenging, but I guess that’s what I
enjoy, the challenge. Some find it dif-
ficult to endure, but in this industry
there is only one guarantee- that
there will be plenty of challenges!”
But despite the dramatic company
growth, the managing director still
believes that its family ethos has
been key to its success over the
years.
“In a family business there is always
that advantage that you really do
care what the customer thinks and
you want to give them the best prod-
uct that will give the results they are
looking for. It’s not just making a sale
it’s doing a good job, it’s as simple as
that.”
Arguably being brought up on farm
which boasts one of the bests pedi-
gree herds in the UK, has given Mar-
ion an edge over her competitors, as
she has had a great insight into the
benefits of good genetics.
“It’s a huge benefit being a farmers
daughter, people sell to people, and
“
our team of
salesmen,
evaluators, Just remem-
distribution and
administration are
some of the best
people you’ll find
ber attitude is
worldwide and we
are really proud of everything!
them. They know
they’re cows and they know what
they’re talking about and connect
very well with the breeders and that’s
great!”
Regardless of her accomplishments
the businesswoman remains modest.
“I’ve been here for 27 years and we
are now one of the major players,
that’s quite an incredible achieve-
ment, but that’s not just down to me,
the success is also down to the peo-
ple who work for us. Also if it wasn’t
for the opportunity that my father
gave me it would never have hap-
pened! You always have to remem-
ber where you started and I’m
grateful to my father for that.”
The company has gone from having
a small market share in the eighties
to it becoming a major contender in
the industry today. Sheer determina-
tion and passion have been funda-
mental in getting the company
through turbulent times over the
years, but it’s evident that Marion
oozes oodles of this.
“I love the business, always have and
it’s that passion and positive attitude
that makes you good at what you do
and the determination is the back-
bone that won’t let you give up.
We’ve faced a lot of difficulties; milk
quotas, BSE, Foot and Mouth and TB
but we have overcome them and we
are still here. Foot and Mouth was
the hardest thing we had to cope with
as a company. They’ll be other chal-
lenges to come, but we will get over
them!”
“Looking in the future I predict less
dairy farmers with bigger units and I
think there will only be three main AI
companies left, so I certainly want
WWS UK to be one of those three
and we will be working towards grow-
ing our market share
so that we make
sure of that.”
“ But Marion ad-
mits that her sex
had been a dis-
advantage within
the industry over
the years.
“It’s been a sharp learning curve, it’s
a very male-orientated industry and I
think it’s taken a long time for our
competitors to realise that I was seri-
ous about taking the company for-
ward.”
But despite the difficulties she has
had to endure Marion remains opti-
mistic about women entering into the
industry.
“Things have changed dramatically in
the business world and woman are
just as competent as men. I would
really push more women into the in-
dustry, especially at higher levels, it’s
a very rewarding career and you’re
working alongside great people-
farmers, who really are the salt of the
earth. My advice is just be strong and
remain focused. Determination also
plays a huge part in anybody’s suc-
cess, it doesn’t matter what your
going in for. And just remember atti-
tude is everything!”