RAY Grocott was one of Shropshire’s most successful businessmen - but he also used his business success to finance countless community projects.

A much-loved ‘Shropshire Lad’, he touched the lives of hundreds of local people both as an employer and philanthropist.

In 2015, he paid for a new medical practice in Prees, and built eight bungalows for older people in the village and supported Prees Cricket & Recreation Club for more than 35 years.

Ray was born on April 15, 1934 at Holly Farm, Prees to Victor and Nellie Grocott who ran a cattle haulage business working with local farmers.

READ MORE: Family lead tributes to Ray Grocott after death of Shropshire business leader

His father died suddenly when he was five, meaning that Nellie brought him and his six sisters up alone while continuing to run the family’s cattle haulage business. Ray soon became his mother’s right-hand man.

He attended Prees Junior School and Adams Grammar School, Wem. Ray said that he wanted to be a driver. The headmaster, who spotted Ray’s potential replied, “No Ray, you don’t want to be a driver, you want to be the boss!”.

Whitchurch Herald: Ray Grocott at the unveiling of his lounge at Prees. Ray Grocott at the unveiling of his lounge at Prees. (Image: Ray Grocott.)

Ray took that advice and, on joining his mother’s business, soon showed the acumen, imagination and business flair that led him to become a successful and unique business leader.

After a two-year stint in the RAF for National Service, Ray returned to the business with renewed drive and a new perspective.

In 1956, he married local farmer’s daughter, Rose Sadler, whose loyalty and hard work helped to build the Grocontinental company. When praised for his achievements, Ray always acknowledged Rose’s contribution. Rose died in 2019.

In the late 50s, Ray and his mother expanded the cattle haulage business to include other agricultural work and by the early 60s, their partnership of N. Grocott & Son Ltd was well known across Shropshire and Cheshire.

When Nellie died in 1969, Ray took the reins and eventually joined Cheshire-based North Western Farmers by selling 60 per cent of his shares to the company. Over the next decade, he worked hard to establish the transport arm of NWF but the constraints of corporate life were too limiting for a business maverick like Ray. In 1981, he severed his NWF connections – a move considered risky by many – to pursue his solo dreams.

As part of the severance deal, Ray acquired a large site in Heathwood Road, Higher Heath where he established his new business which he named Grocontinental, growing into one of Europe’s most successful independent logistics companies.

In the 1970s, Ray took on pioneering and challenging work, including six-week trips to Iran transporting machinery produced by engineering company, Rubery Owen of Prees.

Following the Romanian refugee crisis in the early 1990s, he packed his lorries with emergency aid and headed east.

Whitchurch Herald: Ray Grocott (back row second left) playing for Prees FC. Ray Grocott (back row second left) playing for Prees FC. (Image: Ray Grocott.)Alongside haulage, he established the storage side of the business and in the early 1990s linked up with Müller Dairy which was starting production in Shropshire. This relationship began when Ray read about Müller’s expansion and a proposed move to Market Drayton. Seizing the moment and spotting a great business opportunity, Ray jumped on a plane, flew to Bavaria in Germany and knocked on the door of Müller HQ to offer his services. Inevitably, he came away with the work.

With a can-do, no barriers attitude to business, coupled with an innovative mindset, Ray made the most of everything that came his way with Grocontinental.

Success meant expansion and Ray, with son David and daughter Linda working alongside him, extended the business to a new site in Whitchurch. The company established a reputation for flexibility and world-class customer service in the complex logistics industry.

When Grocontinental was sold in December 2017, its annual turnover had climbed to £40 million with a workforce of 450 people.

Ray always shared his success with others. He was known as sharp and savvy in business and kind and caring in his philanthropic support to many individuals, charities and organisations.

He was a man who offered a helping hand and leadership. This stretched from helping members of his staff through difficult times to backing the education of a medical student and a trainee teacher in Romania. On holiday in Morocco some years ago, Ray met a hotel doorman who impressed him so much that he gave him a job at Grocontinental. They are all still in contact with the Grocott family.

Whitchurch Herald: Ray Grocott (far left) cutting a ribbon with Dr Guy Carter and Dr Jim Bartlett. Ray Grocott (far left) cutting a ribbon with Dr Guy Carter and Dr Jim Bartlett. (Image: Ray Grocott.)

Ray had friends all over the world but his heart remained in his home village of Prees, where he was determined to improve the village’s facilities.

He made a £1m donation to build the new medical centre in Prees when the village GP surgery was threatened with closure following the retirement of Ray’s good friend, Dr Guy Carter.

Two years later, he donated £800,000 to build eight bungalows for older people next to the surgery. He’d long campaigned for new pensioners’ homes in the village and in the end, he simply made it happen.

His long-term financial backing and help-in-kind for Prees Cricket & Recreation Club created one of Shropshire’s finest sporting and social venues. He refurbished the nursery at Prees Primary School and provided a specially adapted bus for the Bradbury Care Centre in Whitchurch.

Ray was a keen sportsman, playing football and cricket for Prees when he was younger and later he developed a passion for golf. He was both President and Captain at Hill Valley Golf Club. He also loved flying and piloted his own plane.