Alan Caffyn
Head of a venerable family car dealership and cricket obsessive
ALAN CAFFYN, who has died aged 84, was chief executive and chairman of Caffyns, the car dealer based in Sussex and Kent; he also served as chairman of Sussex County Cricket Club.
Founded as a “gas and hot water fitter” in 1865, Caffyns moved into the motor industry in 1903 and is today a public limited company operating from 13 dealerships.
Caffyn, known as “Mr Alan”, was the fourth generation of the family to join the business. He was one of the few people to drive a bright red 1908 Wolseley Siddeley from its historic vehicles fleet, and would often be called upon to drive a bride and groom. Once it was too wet for the bride, so Caffyn drove the open-top car back to Eastbourne accompanied by one of the male guests. However, he had forgotten to removed the “Just married” sign and the happy couple were cheered all the way home.
Caffyn loved all sports, but his passion was for cricket. An outstanding wicketkeeper and batsman, he captained Eastbourne Cricket Club. The company’s head office was next to the club’s Saffrons cricket ground and its computer room overlooked the pitch. Come the cricket season colleagues were impressed by how Caffyn, who never learnt to use a computer, developed a keen interest in them.
He was appointed chairman of Sussex in 1990, having previously supplied much-needed sponsorship and players’ cars, including a white Jaguar for Tony Greig. But his tenure ended in some acrimony and when a handful of the first-team players, including the captain, left after the 1996 season, Caffyn stepped aside.
The family home remained a salon for cricketers. On one occasion John Snow, the England fast bowler, when asked what he would like for breakfast, replied: “Just a brandy for me.”
Alan Morris Caffyn was born at Eastbourne on April 23 1933, the son of Sir Sydney Caffyn, a director of the company, and his wife Annie (née Dawson), who worked in the Foreign Office.
He was educated at Ascham Prep School and Eastbourne College, before studying for a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Chelsea College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering in London. Despite the family history in the motor trade, Caffyn was among the last of his contemporaries to learn to drive and until then had to be chauffeured to hockey matches by friends.
He did his National Service in Germany with the Army and started in 1956 as assistant sales manager of Caffyn’s Seaford branch. In 1961 he was promoted to the board before being appointed joint managing director in 1972. In 1981, after the death of his uncle, Sir Edward Caffyn, he took over as chairman and chief executive.
Outside the firm Caffyn played a key role on various bodies, serving as vice president of Ben, the car industry’s benevolent fund, as president of Eastbourne Historic Vehicle Club, and as a committee member of St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex in 1993.
Caffyn’s cricket-playing career also encompassed the Free Foresters, the OES, Caffyns, Ovals and Perambulators. He was chairman of Eastbourne Saffrons Sports Club and in 2012 was appointed a director of the Friends of Arundel Castle Cricket Club, only retiring this year.
Caffyn’s non-sporting interests were many and varied. Completing the Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword everyday was a must. He was an accomplished gardener with a love of roses and dahlias, a talented pianist, and devoted to ballet, choral music and opera. He was also an ardent follower of horse racing and, over the years, had a stake in two racehorses, both of which were trained by Josh Gifford.
Alan Caffyn married Ann Bradford, a nurse, in 1959. She survives him with two sons and a daughter.
Alan Caffyn, born April 23 1933, died April 4 2018