Meet the Team

Mark is passionate about the Hampshire countryside and works hard to balance a desire to welcome people onto the estate while ensuring that it remains the extraordinary chalk-stream ecosystem that it is. Recently his focus has been on supporting the launch of The Grange Festival, building a new Equestrian Centre with his cousin Francesca Baring, collaborating with his siblings on producing sparkling wine from the Vineyard they have planted on the estate, developing camping and holiday accommodation, alongside the more traditional agricultural and property enterprises.

Mark has managed the Grange Estate, which is owned by his family, since 2014. Prior to that he worked in finance, originally in corporate finance and then in wealth management, with spells in New York and Singapore as well as in London.

Mark is a Trustee of The Grange Festival and of the Baring Archive Trust.

Sophie (formerly known as Grenville/Baring) works alongside Mark to lead the estate in a way that will ensure it thrives commercially, ecologically and socially.  She believes that its future is dependent on making the most of what it has to offer, thinking creatively and practically about extraordinary experiences for its customers.

Her experience in the midst of a family business, as well as observing many others, means she is on a mission to help families with businesses have the right conversations in the right way.  She believes empathetic, non-judgmental, well-structured  facilitation can release positive energy and avoid unnecessary misery. She has teamed up with Edward Marriott, a psychotherapist and organisational psychologist, to do this work

Zam’s happiest childhood memories are of splashing about in the clear, clean water of the Candover Brook that flows north/south all the way through the estate.

He trained as a film editor after university and worked in London making commercials and music-videos before joining an independent production company called KEO Films, where he edited, directed and produced various factual television programmes for many British and international broadcasters.

Zam now runs the English sparkling wine project that was set up on the estate by him and his siblings 11 years ago.

Fred grew up on the Estate and his earliest memory is encountering a cased caddisfly larvae in the chalk stream that runs through our water meadows. His love for the Estate runs deep, but what gives him the greatest joy is seeing it flourish into a sustainable business that can be enjoyed by others.

Co-leading our Events & Hospitality arm, Fred’s focus is on making sure our clients get the most out of their time on the Estate. The varied tasks that go with working on a diversified Estate play to Fred’s breadth of strengths and interests. When he’s not behind a desk working on our marketing strategy you might find him masterminding the restoration of our derelict Victorian model farm into a regenerative farm stay retreat, on the steering committee of our farm cluster group looking for environmentally better ways to manage the land or making sourdough pizzas for a group of business customers staying in our farmhouse.

Fred has multiple marathons under his belt, an MBA in Advanced Farm Management, loves making bread, restoring old motorbikes and is increasingly seduced by his vegetable garden and bees.

Tor is Mark Ashburton’s PA and is responsible for everything from his diary management to organising the annual shoot. She is highly organised, very efficient and is a very important member of the Grange team.

Before joining the team, Tor ran her own businesses including a string of hair salons, which presented a whole different set of challenges.  Prior to that she was instrumental in setting up local independent radio stations within her role as PA to the Chief Executive of a large radio group.

Away from the office, Tor and her two teenage children love spending time with their cockapoo Beau.  She is a fantastic cook and loves to entertain with great food and wine.

Julia loves giving people what they want when it comes to creating great events. She knows The Grange Hampshire inside out and can help navigate it so that it can give of its best. She has worked on the estate since 2014, first as a PA to Mark and now as the Events Manager.

Julia’s previous 25 year career was in Broadcasting with the BBC, ITV and independent production companies.  Before joining the Grange Hampshire she was Head of Production working across a diverse genre of programmes including daytime, documentaries and factual.

Julia is wife to Chris and mum to 2 teenage girls.  She loves spending time outdoors with her family and her dog, and most weekends is found in her other role as driver and groom to her horse-mad youngest daughter who competes at British Eventing level.

Tara has a passion for providing seamless events for her clients, whatever the requirement and dream. Tara supports Julia in the day-to-day organisation and execution of events and the two make a great team!

Tara’s career started with planning high-end automotive events across the globe including auctions, concourses, and rallies.

Away from work, Tara is wife to Charlie and Mum to Louis (6months old). She is a country girl born and bred, having grown up haymaking and lambing on her family’s farms. She is also a keen equestrian, having ridden horses from the moment she could walk

Max manages the woods, meadows and parkland on the estate with the aim of creating and maintaining good, healthy habitat beneficial for the sporting activities and wildlife. He loves the variety and range of skills needed to do his job well; from forestry to organising the beaters and chatting up the guns on a days shooting.

Max has been working at The Grange Hampshire since 2011, starting out as a part time estate worker, moving to the assistant gamekeeper and taking over as head keeper in time for the 2018 season.

In his spare time Max can be found deer stalking, shooting clay pigeons, working on Land Rovers, or doing something to help with local Young Farmers’ Club.

Mark, known as Mel to differentiate him from Mark Baring, looks after the management of the estate on a day to day basis. He says that it’s more than a job, it’s a way of life. Every day is different and his role encompasses everything from looking after the Estate’s somewhat antiquated private water supply, to running the teams of contractors employed to renovate its various properties. The role allows him to use his innate ability for practical problem solving and to deal with the many challenges that come his way.

Mel began his career in game keeping and farming and, for a time, joined his Dad in the Portsmouth Dockyard where he learned to be more of a builder and engineer, before going back to work on another large Hampshire estate.  Seventeen and a half years later he joined the team at The Grange Hampshire.

Mel is a passionate Portsmouth Football Club supporter. He scuba dives and sails whenever he gets time.

Laura really enjoys the pace and bustle of managing the residential properties at The Grange Hampshire, alongside being the Estate’s Health and Safety representative.  She gets a lot of satisfaction from making her work as positive and productive as possible. She loves the challenge of liaising and working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

Laura was born and raised in the Republic of Moldova and graduated in Finance and Banking followed by a Masters in European Project Financing Management at Bucharest University.

Laura’s experience as a travel agent, before settling in the UK, has stood in her very good stead as she welcomes new people to The Grange Hampshire.

Ashley looks after the maintenance of our properties and also works closely with Max (Game Keeper) and Mel (Estates Manager) across the estate and the park land. Ashley thoroughly enjoys his job and the diversity of his tasks; every day is different!

Ashley’s interest and career in mechanics & agriculture started at Sparsholt College, with his education completed by an apprenticeship with Vauxhall as a vehicle technician. Ashley has previously work in civil engineering and as a builder, so he really knows his stuff!

Away from work, Ashley enjoys many forms of motorsport having raced in Motocross and Enduro competitions.

Jo strives to ensure that accurate and timely financial details are available to inform strategic planning and decision making.  Prior to joining the team, Jo had a long and successful career in education finance and is now very much enjoying the challenge of adapting her skills and learning about the intricacies of running a large country estate.

Away from the office, Jo enjoys country and beach walks with her husband and dogs.  She loves to spend time with family and friends, especially the newest member of the family, her little granddaughter.

Davinia is the newest recruit at The Grange Hampshire working as their bookkeeper. With great organisational skills and thriving on the finer details, the methodical approach required for this role suits her well. With a wealth of experience gained from her previous roles in investment banking and a decade in the world of superyacht design, her transferable skill set is honed for this latest venture.
‘Out of office’ she can be found walking in the beautiful Hampshire countryside with her cockapoo, Maggie, happiest surrounded by nature and her family. If time permits (after running around after her 3 children) she is a keen yogi and advocate of a healthy lifestyle approach. The countryside, the environment and anti plastics are topics close to her heart.

Becka, who was born and brought up in Hampshire, trained at the Royal Academy of Music as a professional opera singer.  During her studies she developed a love for cooking and formed her own catering company.

Becka has sung on the stage at The Grange and catered extensively for both The Grange Festival and The Grange Hampshire estate

She is dedicated to maintaining her reputation for providing delicious, vibrant, generous seasonal food that champions local suppliers. Although she has a clear idea of the kind of food she does best she loves working with others to create something which they feel reflects who they are. She gets great satisfaction making sure that people have a brilliant time.

Ali specialises in looking after the estates’ business clients. She knows what it takes to run a successful off-site meeting and works hard to make sure that the focus for clients is on what they need to get done and not on the logistics. She knows how to flex so that things happen when they need to but don’t get in the way when they don’t. Businesses come to Abbotstone Barn to get away from the day to day and focus on the important stuff that otherwise might not get discussed properly so it’s important they are not interrupted or distracted. 

The rest of the time you’ll find Ali in the kitchen with Becka, doing everything from making canapés for a Grange wedding, to prepping  Supper in the Park for the Grange Festival.  

Ali has had a varied career and lived all over the country. Amongst other things she has written children’s books and radio advertising. Her flexibility and gentle brilliance with people makes her an ideal sounding board for Becka on all aspects of life across the estate. 

She says that Hampshire is most definitely her home now and is very much part of The Grange family.