Neil McCann:NEIL McCANN, who has died aged 87, was the former chairman and chief executive of Fyffes, the fruit company he helped turn from modest beginnings in his native Co Louth into a global player with interests in Britain, mainland Europe and the Americas.
To many who worked with him, McCann’s death this week represented the end of an era. He was the elder statesman of the cohort of Irish entrepreneurs that emerged in the second half of the 20th century, whose legacy inspires many of today’s generation of business achievers.
Neil McCann (Neilly to close friends) was born in 1924 into a family steeped in the fruit business. His grandfather, who came from Co Armagh, began exporting locally produced Bramley apples to Canada in the 1800s. In 1902, his father, Charles McCann, founded McCanns of Dundalk, the company that would eventually become Fyffes plc.
The young McCann attended St Mary’s in Dundalk and Castleknock College in Dublin, where he was a gold-medal student and a noted sportsman, playing rugby on the senior cup team. He won a bronze medal at the half-mile in the Leinster Colleges athletics championships in 1941.
After secondary school, he studied accountancy briefly but his entrepreneurial instinct prompted him to strike out at an early stage into the world of business where he speedily displayed the talents that were to drive his success: vision, energy, courage, leadership, perseverance and, that hard to measure but essential ingredient for many entrepreneurs, luck. This week colleagues recalled his ability to get along with people, relating to them in a way that made each feel special. This was exemplified in the case of a grower in Central America who, despite a language barrier that made conventional communication impossible, said he and McCann got on so well “because we can always embrace”.
McCanns of Dundalk began growing in the 1950s. Charles McCann was aided by his sons Jackie and Charlie. McCanns specialised in wholesaling and retailing, and in banana ripening, serving the counties of the northeast. The company was importing directly into Ireland on its own account and, uniquely, it had direct access to the London, Liverpool and Glasgow markets.
When Charles McCann and Jackie died within a year of each other, Neil McCann found himself, in 1954, in overall charge of the business. He claimed that, at the time, he “never intended to become involved in, never had a feeling for, the fruit trade”. However, he quickly got into his stride, driven by the urgency of dealing in highly perishable fresh produce.
In the 1950s, the business in Ireland was highly fragmented, comprising a large number of family-owned wholesalers and distributors, all competing with each other. McCann brought these firms together, increasing their relative strength in sourcing and in matching up to the emerging supermarket chains. His first step in the consolidation process was to establish United Fruit Importers of Ireland which became Fruit Importers of Ireland and then, following its stock exchange flotation, FII plc.
In 1986, the firm made its first overseas acquisition, buying Fyffes Group Ltd in the UK from Chiquita. Overnight, the group became a major player in the international fruit business. The move heralded a 25-year programme of expansion with more than 150 acquisitions throughout the UK, then continental Europe and ultimately into the US and Central and South America. Spearheaded by McCann’s drive and energy, Fyffes plc grew into one of the largest and most successful fresh produce companies in the world.
In 2006, the group was split into its two principal business segments, with Fyffes retaining the proprietary trade in bananas, pineapples and melons, and the wholesale and distribution activities transferred to the newly established Total Produce plc. Today, the two now independent companies have a combined turnover in excess of €3.3 billion, employ 6,000 people and have operations in more than 20 countries.
McCann had several notable interests outside his career. He was an early president of the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce and a founder member of the Dundalk Economic Development Company. In 1986, he was closely involved in setting up the International Fund for Ireland and was a long-time member of its board. More recently, he devoted considerable time and energy to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
A keen sportsman in his prime, McCann won two Louth minor football championships with De La Salle and four provincial towns cups with Dundalk Rugby Club, including one as captain in 1948 when the team set a record of 20 consecutive wins. His interest in athletics resulted in his intervening to help settle a dispute between the athletics body Bord Luthchleas na hÉireann and four elite Irish runners before the 1988 Olympics.
He was a dedicated family man and devoted to his wife, Mary, whom he saw as a calm and quiet counterbalance to the endless rush of the business, and much more. They had six children: Carl, Neil, David, Patrick, Christopher and Christina.
He is survived by his wife and children and 16 grandchildren.
Neil McCann: born April 5th, 1924; died July 26th, 2011