Ian Mackway leaves Raps

After 28 years’ service, Ian Mackway of Raps UK has confirmed that he has left the business.

Ian’s story with Raps began in 1988 when he responded to an advertisement for a new business opportunity.RAPS Gmbh & Co. KG, a successful European company at that time, based in Germany, which had no presence in the UK, was looking for a general manager to establish a subsidiary in the UK Market.Starting as a one-man band with a car and a briefcase, over the next 28 years Ian built the business from scratch in the UK, and apart from a fleeting period when he was Western Europe sales director, Ian has worked to establish the Raps brand in Britain, resulting in the established and well regarded UK ingredients business based in Brackley, Northamptonshire.As part of this, Ian also worked hard to integrate Raps UK into the fabric of the meat industry, working very closely with the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) in the mid 1980s and onwards to introduce continental style added value added concepts to the home market.In 1997, he became the first ingredient trade supplier to become a liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Butchers (WCB) and served on the Court of the Company for three years. He was also Festival Chairman of the Butchers and Drovers Charitable Institution (BDCI) in 2003.The announcement has only recently been confirmed by Raps, although Ian formally left the company on 31^st March 2017. Happily, he is not lost to the meat industry and will still be seen at trade events and other related activities, including WCB Court Lunches.Ian will be manning the trade stand for the Worshipful Company of Butchers at the Meatup show on 24^th and 25^th May in Milton Keynes and will also be attending the MM Meat Industry Awards Dinner in Birmingham on 28^th June.Tony van de Vijfeijken, director of Western Europe for Raps, said: “Everyone in the Raps family thanks Ian and wishes him all the best for the future as he prepares to pursue his other interests.”Sunit Mehta, appointed as commercial director at Raps (UK) in 2016 will now assume Ian’s duties.

This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.