Obituary: John Stone MBE

John Stone came from a very long line of butchers and was at the forefront of gourmet meat production for many years. In his own words John always said: “I only ever wanted to be a butcher. Both my grandfathers were butchers, and my father was persuaded to give up farming to run one shop in Highgate.”

At the end of meat rationing in 1954 John’s father bought the small business of E Russell Ltd., in Bartholomew Close. It took delivery of chickens for Trust Houses (pre Forté days) and dressed and dispatched them in hampers nationwide.

Leaving school in 1959, John went on a course at Smithfield for a year, tutored by the famous duo of Frank Gerard and Fred Mallion, and the following summer went to work at Russell Meat’s depot in Jersey where his father had built up a business supplying the hotels there with meat and poultry from Bartholomew Close.

He returned to the London site in 1960 and finally in 1974 he took over the business. By that time the company had moved to Holloway where it acquired a Walls Ice Cream depot equipped with a large freezer – and in 1975 it got a big break when the American owners of the Churchill Hotel in London asked John to supply their new hotel in Monte Carlo with Scotch beef and other premium products.

Realising that there was also a growing market for quality meat in Europe too, he joined forces with William Donald of Portlethen in Aberdeen, who owned an export approved abattoir and cutting room and together they launched Donald Russell.

The company quickly gained a reputation for gourmet meats and the business began supplying a growing number of customers in highly reputed restaurants and hotels worldwide.

“John Stone was a big personality, who loved to run the show but cared about the wider industry and was one of its great characters.”

Pam Brook, former editor of Meat Management magazine

The business continued to expand and bought Constable Country in Basildon in 1983 as a central cutting unit for portion steaks. In 1984/85 depots in Southampton, Aylesbury and Scotland gave the business the opportunity to distribute in its own refrigerated vehicles across the South of England and all its export business was transferred to Scotland.

With larger and larger customers to serve, John was finally approached by entrepreneur Ron Randall and John and his business interests was invited to join the rapidly expanding Sims Food Group, where he soon became chairman.

In 1991 that was a £200 million business and John was required to adapt to a less hands-on role and at the time, when asked what he thought made for success he said: “Common sense. Stick with the fundamentals of the business, be single-minded. Get up earlier and go to bed later than the rest of them – work harder. You’ll also make mistakes.”

Wider industry contribution

John also gave back to the industry he served and in 1980 he started the National Association of Catering Butchers and was its chairman for 14 years. This was motivated by the need for protection from itinerant dishonest staff and to achieve a common standard for products. For instance, the striploin, which was variable in the extreme at the time and subject to undercutting by inferior quality. He co-authored The Meat Buyers Guide publication with Henry Tattersall and Roger Moore to enable the trade to cope with the then ever growing interference of the EC into traditional seasonal and price patterns.

He was Festival Chairman of the Butchers & Drovers Charitable Institution in 1990/91 and served on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Butchers for many years. In 1991 he was awarded an MBE for his service to the meat industry.

Following the sale of Donald Russell UK to the Vestey Group in 2012 Donald Russell International changed its trading name to John Stone & Company. The business continues to offer a range of dry aged, grass fed Irish beef and lamb that bears his name.

John married his late wife, Maxine in 1964 and they had 3 daughters, Karen, Paula and Nicola and one son, Tim who runs John Stone & Company and, as his father before him, serves on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Butchers too.

“He was great fun but also had an astute business acumen… it was always refreshing to be with a man of integrity, common sense and fun. The industry has lost a great character and a good friend.”

Graham Yandell MBE, publisher of Meat Management magazine.

Many will remember John as a positive, energetic force, who lived life to the full, making and retaining many friends along the way.

Past editor of Meat Management Pam Brook said: “John Stone was a big personality, who loved to run the show but cared about the wider industry and was one of its great characters. He had a mischievous sense of humour and was potentially one of the greatest meat business innovators of his time. The world was richer for his being in it. He will be missed by many but not forgotten.”

Graham Yandell MBE the publisher of Meat Management magazine added: “I knew my friend John for well over 40 years and I have some wonderful memories. I had enormous respect for him, but also thought of him as a mate! I well remember long lunches at Smithfield market where he would serve superb beef in one of the famous turrets there.

“He was great fun but also had an astute business acumen. We started the WCB Newsletter together and I worked with John, Henry and Roger on the Meat Buyers Guide for Caterers which was an enormous success.

“In later life he was usually based in Guernsey or Portugal so I saw less of him than I would have liked, but when we did get together on odd occasions it was always refreshing to be with a man of integrity, common sense and fun. The industry has lost a great character and a good friend.”