Andrew Brown MBE, one of the guiding family owners of Beaverbrooks for over half a century, has passed away.
Beaverbrooks was founded in Belfast in 1919 by three Adlestone brothers operating out of a suitcase, before they opened their first Adlestone’s store a year later and expanded into mainland Britain.
The growing chain of stores changed its name to Beaverbrooks in 1935.
The Brown family, two nephews, of the original Adlestone brothers, Sydney and Percy Brown, joined the business in 1948.
Andrew Brown, the son of Percy born in 1946, joined Beaverbrooks in 1962.
Mark Alestone OBE, Beaverbrooks’ current chairman, pays tribute to the man who guided him through his early career.
“I worked with Andrew for more than 40 years and together we enjoyed decades of fantastic, exciting development and growth. His pro-activity and hands-on approach to work is what made him so special – he was an amazing partner who supported me unreservedly,” he recalls.
“He was a great man, who brought so much to the Beaverbrooks family over the years, with his extraordinary dedication and selflessness.”
Beaverbrooks, which has been named among the Best Companies to Work For by the Sunday Times for many years, has a longstanding commitment to staff wellbeing, and to raising money for good causes.
Both philosophies were supported by Andrew Brown.
“From Andrew I observed and learned about kindness, selflessness and humility – he was always putting others before himself and never sought the limelight. His commitment to charity saw him set up the Beaverbrooks 10k Fun Run in Blackpool 40 years ago – an event that is still going strong today and has raised over £2.5m for local charities. He went on to receive an MBE for his services to charity,” Mr Adlestone shares.
“Andrew will be missed by so many, and our thoughts go out to his wife Marcia, daughters Sam, Katie and Gemma, and all his loved ones at this difficult time,” he adds.
Anna Blackburn, managing director at Beaverbrooks, describes Mr Brown as a wonderful man, and an integral part of the business.
He devoted 56 years to Beaverbrooks before retiring in 2019.
“He played a huge part in so many of our colleagues’ careers and was very much loved and respected by us all. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Andrew’s family at this incredibly sad time,” Ms Blackburn says.
