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Bernard Matthews CVO, CBE, QSM, who died peacefully at home on November 25, aged 80, was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who will best be remembered for building a multi-national food business after hatching a dozen turkeys eggs in a second-hand incubator bought at Acle market, near Norwich, Norfolk.
He grew up in Norfolk and won a scholarship to the City of Norwich School. After National Service in the RAF with the famous 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron he began his working life at Commercial Union, spending his spare time rearing turkeys in his future mother-in-law’s garden.
By the early 1950s he was hatching 200 poults a week from eggs which he hand-turned twice a day helped by Joyce – whom he married in 1953.
Bernard Matthews in his officeAs the business was growing quickly, the couple had the luxury of a one-day honeymoon as they had to get back to feed the turkeys.
This was a sign of things to come - they worked 13-hour days, living in a one bedroom flat and cooking their meals on an upturned gas fire as they laid the foundations of one of the UK’s leading food brands.
After a dreadful set-back in the storms of 1953 when almost everything he had built was blown away, the business began to grow, and two years later Bernard and Joyce bought the iconic Great Witchingham Hall, which is still the headquarters of the business today.
Turkeys were hatched and reared in the bedrooms, and prepared for the table in the Hall kitchen.
Even in the early days Bernard had a clear vision of making turkey affordable for everyone. A trip to the USA prompted his vision for the freezer revolution which would transform the demand for oven-ready turkeys.
Norfolk Manor Turkeys was formed in 1960 and the 30 year old Bernard Matthews was already controlling assets in the region of £250,000.
Over the next few years the growth of the company was very swift. Spotting the benefit of using a former war-time airfield at Weston Longville, he built what was listed in The Guiness Book of Records as the largest turkey farm in the world. It also initiated a friendship with the USAF which was to last a life-time.
As the business developed Mr Matthews became a figurehead for the poultry industry, both at home and abroad, and in 1965 he was invited to the Soviet Union to advise Kruschev on modernising the Russian turkey industry.
As chairman and president of the British Turkey Federation he presented a Christmas turkey to Harold Wilson and his wife on the steps of Number 10 – something he later repeated for Margaret Thatcher (who insisted on paying him for it!), and to John and Norma Major and the Blair family.
In 1971 the company went public. The Matthews family sold a 60% shareholding on flotation but Bernard remained as managing director.
The rapid growth of the company continued and by 1976 had posted record profits of £2.5m. By this stage the company was shipping frozen oven-ready birds to Europe and claimed another first by exporting turkey eggs to the USA.
Over the next 30 years the company was at the forefront of the food industry as it developed into one of Britain’s best-loved brands.
During this period, when Bernard Matthews was asked by a director of a TV commercial to describe his turkeys, he coined the famous ‘Bootiful’ catchphrase, which has been brought back to life in the current advertising campaign.
This formed the cornerstone of the business’ marketing activity throughout the 1980s and 1990s as he became the face of this household brand.
In the mid 1990s Bernard Matthews spearheaded the company’s international expansion, with the acquisition of businesses in Hungary, Germany and New Zealand. The New Zealand arm was subsequently sold in 2007, but the company still continues to supply the European market through operations in Germany and Hungary
In December 2000, in what was described as a ‘bold move’ at the time, Bernard and his management team decided to initiate a share buy-back to return the company to private ownership - after 30 years of being a listed company. During this time the team successfully beat off take-over threats from other interested parties.
Over the next 10 years Mr Matthews continued his role as chairman and in 2010 retired from the main board on his 80th Birthday. He continued to sit as chairman of the Supervisory Board until he passed away.
Throughout his successful career, Bernard supported many charities – often anonymously. He was an ardent admirer of the Caister Lifeboatmen ‘who never turn back’ and during his lifetime helped this independent charity to buy two new lifeboats, which subsequently saved many lives off the Norfolk coast.
He was vice-president of the Royal Society of Arts and president of the Norfolk Institute of Directors. He was a life-long supporter and president of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, and through his interest in the life and times of Lord Nelson he became a trustee and benefactor of the Norfolk Nelson Museum, and financed the ‘Norfolk – Nelson’s County’ signs.
Bernard gave significant help to major projects at Norwich Cathedral, Norwich Hospital, University of East Anglia, True’s Yard Museum, Norwich Castle Museum, USAAF Memorial Library and many, many others.
In fact, there is probably not a town or village in Norfolk that has not benefited in some way from his generosity.
Alongside these charities Mr Matthews supported many local educational initiatives.
He was a founder Charter Member of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and a strong supporter of the Scout movement and the Prince’s Trust.
In 2008 he launched the Bernard Matthews Youth Awards in association with the Eastern Daily Press to recognise the achievements of young people in Norfolk and Suffolk, and established the Bernard Matthews Fund with the Norfolk Community Foundation to continue to help local organisations across Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire.
In 1989 he received the Queen’s Service Medal for services to the New Zealand meat Industry, became a CBE in 1992 and was awarded the CVO in 2007.
He was a keen yachtsman and travelled extensively. He listed his main interests as food and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of wines.
He had homes beside his beloved River Wensum in Norfolk, in London and in the south of France. Bernard Matthews leaves a widow, Joyce, four children and six grandchildren.
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There are a lot of people like that I think, their light is hidden under a bushel!
He also gave employment and his company still does, to many people in Norfolk and other areas, Norfolk is notoriously difficult for the work force these days especially.
LIzx
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Tributes to Bernard Matthews
DAISY WALLAGE
Sunday, 28 November, 2010
13:00 PM
Friends, dignitaries and celebrities have joined members of the food and farming community to pay tribute to Norfolk icon Bernard Matthews.
The Rt Rev Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, said: “Bernard Matthews loved Norfolk and its people. A host of charities and community organisations benefited from his generosity. The county has lost one of its great characters but also someone who cherished Norfolk’s unique qualities. We mourn his passing and honour his memory.”
A spokesman for Norwich City Football Club said it had been saddened by the news.
“He was a big feature of Norfolk life and a very colourful character.”
The Sportspark at the University of East Anglia site named its pool after Mr Matthews as a lasting tribute to his generosity.
Assistant director of Sportspark, Maria Rowe, said: “He was a very generous benefactor when we were gathering funding to build the Sportspark. He supported us from the start and ensured these excellent sporting facilities were built in Norfolk.
“The Bernard Matthews Olympic pool was named after him in his honour and as a result his legacy will live on.”
NFU chief poultry adviser Rob Newbery said: “The Bernard Matthews story is an inspiration to any farmer, or entrepreneur. From humble beginnings he built an innovative, and in its time, unique business. Bernard Matthews’ success was poultry farming’s success.
“Bernard Matthews is a strong rural company, brand and employer, with roots firmly in farming; he created a legacy to be proud of.
“He will be sadly missed and remembered by many. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”
Millionaire businessman Lord Alan Sugar was among the famous names to remember Bernard Matthews.
Lord Sugar described Mr Matthews as a “national treasure” after hearing the Norfolk tycoon had died.
He wrote on Twitter: “Shame about Bernard Matthews he was a great inspiration to people to show what can be achieved in life by hard work. RIP.’’
Chef Antony Worrall Thompson, who met Matthews on several occasions, said his “thoughts were with the family’’.
Caister lifeboat spokesman John Cannell described it as a great blow to senior members of the crew when they heard the news of Bernard Matthew’s death.
He said: “Ever since he came to the boathouse in 1987 and met the crew, including Skipper Woodhouse and myself, an immediate rapport was struck and he has been a constant supporter.”
Apart from donating money to the independent lifeboat station, he had offered help in so many other ways and become a true friend of the crew.
“At Christmas we always had a party with him and he gave a turkey to every member of the crew,” said Mr Cannell.
He said it was fitting that his name would live on in the name of the station’s state-of-the-art jet-propelled lifeboat, the Bernard Matthews II.
Comedian Jim Davidson, a fellow fundraiser for the Caister Lifeboat, said Mr Matthews was a “great Norfolk man”.
“He never forgot the little people that were around him, even though he became very successful,” he said. “His support of the Caister Lifeboat has saved many lives, but he never shouted about it. In fact, he was slightly embarrassed when they named the boat after him. He was a great supporter of the blokes as well, he always had a chat with them and they loved him for it.”
Mr Matthews was president of the Royal Norfolk Show in 2001 and in 2002, when he ran with the baton for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.
John Purling, Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association chief executive, said: “I think Norfolk has lost a great friend, entrepreneur and businessman in Bernard. He was a generous sponsor and supporter. He enabled the show’s organisers to bring events and features to the show that otherwise might not have been possible. We were all extremely sad to hear he has passed away.”
Henry Cator, chairman of Royal Agricultural Society of England, and a former president of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association, said:
“Bernard was a great enthusiast for Norfolk and a very generous supporter of many charities here in Norfolk and throughout the country. He was a born marketeer and always conscious of his brand. I remember so well his Presidency at the Norfolk Show for two years.
“Bernard had a wonderful sense of humour and was naturally proud of all that he achieved in building his business to have an international reputation. He was one of the first Norfolk Oaks to support the ‘Inspiration for the Future’ campaign at Norwich Cathedral. His enthusiasm and leadership will be missed in Norfolk.”
Simon Woodbridge, leader of Broadland District Council, said: “Our thoughts are with his friends and family and also the business community and his employees who will be deeply saddened by this news. Broadland was always proud that Bernard Matthews grew his business here and was such an iconic ambassador for Broadland and for Norfolk.”
Champion of the Norfolk dialect Keith Skipper told how Bernard Matthews’ “bootiful” advertising slogan has been a “wishbone of contention” between the two of them.
In a typically tongue in cheek tribute, he said: “Over the years I have tried to tackle him over the pronunciation and spelling of his bootiful – because we felt it should be ‘bewtiful.’
“I wrote to him on a couple of occasions when the Friends of Norfolk Dialect group was formed, but never got a reply.
“At Radio Norfolk I met him, off air, and accused him of talking gobbledegook, but he did not find it very amusing and it ruffled his feathers a bit. He seemed a bit suspicious of the media.”
The debate over the pronunciation had raised the profile of Norfolk dialect nationwide. The television advert had given a wrong impression but there was no such thing as bad publicity, and the bootiful was at least better than the “Mummerset abominations of others.”
Mr Matthews had however been a key figure in Norfolk’s economy for the past 50 years in terms of business and employment, and had “put a different set of wings” back on many wartime aerodromes.
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