He was educated at Shrewsbury School and RAC Cirencester.
He succeeded his father as Baron Gretton on his father's death in 1989, whilst still farming at Somerby House, Leicestershire.
The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords; so far Baron Gretton has not been one of the peers elected to be excepted from this either in the initial elections or any subsequent by elections.