300 year old manufacturing firm announces death of CEO

Philip Salt, chief executive of the 300-year-old Birmingham manufacturing firm Salts Healthcare, has died aged 68 after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer eight months earlier.

Salts started in 1701 as ironmongers making swords, cutlery and surgical instruments and it has evolved across four centuries including the making of false legs and orthopaedic devices, to the present day as one of the leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of stoma care products.

Philip Salt was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1951, son of the late Edward Salt and Julie Salt. He was brought up in South Warwickshire and attended Warwick School.

He joined Salt and Son, as it was then, in 1971 starting on the factory floor to learn the ropes from his father. The tenth generation of the Salt family to work at the company, he loved research and development and immersed himself in the innovation and creation of new products.

He was supported at Salts by his two brothers Peter and Robert and steered the company through both challenging and successful times.

With strong links in the medical industry Philip was passionate about research and improving the wellbeing of patients. He was past chairman of the British Healthcare Trade Association and represented the BHTA on the British Standards Institute for Stoma Care and Urology Products Committee for several years, helping to maintain international product standards.
For ten years he was a Trustee of the Bowel Disease Research Foundation and in 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Staffordshire University.

He was a lifelong supporter of Stratford Rugby Club, where he played for many years, before becoming club president. He also spent time with his daughters rowing at Stratford Rowing Club again becoming club president. An accomplished sailor he participated in the Fastnet Race three times.

He leaves his wife Caroline and their three daughters; Alice, Annabelle and Charlie and five grandchildren; Tilly, Maddie, Olivia, Henry and Elodie.