Alan Tate-Smith grew up on a mixed farm on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and has spent his career working within the rural economy. After a brief role with NFU Mutual, he worked as a rural and commercial surveyor in Yorkshire, carrying out farm and commercial valuations, professional work, agency and auctioneering, including running a livestock market. He joined NFU Mutual as an agent in 2010 before moving to Devon in 2018, where he has worked as a specialist agricultural insurance broker ever since.