Chairman dies, aged 99, after 80-year career in family firm
The chairman of EH Smith, Ken Smith, has died after an 80-year career with the company.
Mr Smith, son of the builders’ merchant’s eponymous founder, died on Tuesday aged 99, the company confirmed.
John Parker, EH Smith’s chief executive, said: “Ken was a remarkable and much loved figurehead, who defined EH Smith’s first century in business. I know I speak for every member of our staff, as well as our family, when I say how much he will be missed.
“One of Ken’s greatest triumphs, and his most important legacy, was his determination to secure the long term future of EH Smith through its people – both by engaging many of the third and fourth generations of the Smith family in the business, including myself, and by encouraging a positive, supportive business culture in which every employee could thrive.
“To Ken, the staff were always considered an extension of his family – and one built around innovation, a strong entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility and good, old-fashioned customer service.”
Ken Smith with his father and company founder Howard, pictured in 1949
Mr Smith joined the family firm when he left King Edward’s School (New Street) in 1937 and took charge in 1959 after the death of his father, Ernest Howard Smith.
The company developed its specialism in sourcing and selling bricks during the 1940s and 50s. It became very active in the civil engineering field, as was involved in the development of the UK’s first motorways, including the M6 and the M1.
EH Smith is now a £130m-turnover firm with 450 staff across 15 sites across the Midlands and the South East.
The EH Smith Charitable Trust aims to help people in need, and 10% of the firm’s annual profits are donated to good causes, including supplying materials and employee time to community renovation projects.
Mr Smith was an active member of the Christadelphian Church.
In 1976 he bought a 43-seater coach and for 40 years conducted weekly excursions for elderly people living in residential care homes – continuing to do this into his early nineties, when the vast majority of his passengers were younger than he was.
