He is the son of the 2nd Baron Grantchester and Lady Grantchester (née Betty Moores) and was educated at Winchester College, where he was in the school football team, and at the London School of Economics, where he graduated Bachelor of Science in economics.

Lord Grantchester is the grandson of John Moores, and his mother was nominal head of the Moores family, founders of the Liverpool-based Littlewoods football pools and retailing businesses, until her death in 2019.

[citation needed] Lord Grantchester runs a dairy farm near Crewe, Cheshire.

Lord Grantchester was the chairman of one of the UK's largest milk and cheese businesses, Dairy Farmers of Britain, accounting for 10% of the UK milk market, when it entered receivership in June 2009.

He is currently a Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a position he has held since 1 July 2014.