Richard Parr The man who has run the Holkham Estate for more than a decade is leaving …by royal appointment.Holkham's managing director Richard Gledson, 45, has been appointed Resident Factor on the Queen's 50,000-acre Estate at Balmoral in Scotland.

Richard Parr

The man who has run the Holkham Estate for more than a decade is leaving …by royal appointment.

Holkham's managing director Richard Gledson, 45, has been appointed Resident Factor on the Queen's 50,000-acre Estate at Balmoral in Scotland. He is due to leave in March 2009 and start his new post, which is effectively the role of resident land agent, in May.

During his 12 years at Holkham Mr Gledson, married to Charlotte with three children, has helped Lord Leicester and, more recently his son, Lord Coke, guide the estate through tremendous changes.

Established businesses like the farming enterprise have expanded and flourished and many new ones have started in that time, helping the Estate to diversify in areas such as tourism and leisure.

Today Loke Coke paid tribute to the part Mr Gledson has played in making the Estate into the successful operation it is today.

He said : “We will be very sorry to lose Richard but we are delighted that he has been selected for what must be one of the most prestigious jobs available working for Her Majesty The Queen on her Scottish estate. He will be a hard act to follow and we have already started to search for his replacement for this important role at Holkham.”

Mr Gledson told the EDP that he is “thrilled” at his new appointment working for the Queen and feels he was very lucky to get it.

“The new post will certainly be a new challenge for me and working at Balmoral will be very different from the Holkham estate. It will be a wrench to leave Holkham and Norfolk as my family and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our 12 years. However, we are all excited about the move to Scotland and we look forward to our new life on the Balmoral Estate,” he said.

In some ways it will be a return to his earlier roots for Mr Gledson because it was from Scotland that he moved to take up the Holkham post. His eldest child, Mary, aged 12, was born in Scotland. He has two other children, Edward, 10 and eight-year-old Harriet.