‘HIS CHARISMA MADE HIM THE NATURAL CENTRE OF ATTENTION’
Tributes to businessman and racehorse trainer
TRIBUTES have been paid to a businessman turned racehorse trainer who ran two Stoke-on-trent engineering firms.
John Cresswell died on September 28 at the age of 85 following a short illness.
He was just 15 when he entered the family metalworks business. He later set up Silvers Cresswell Ltd with his son Nick in 1985.
Together, they went on to purchase Glebe Engineering Ltd in 1987, and Classic Gears Ltd in 1995. In 2015, they moved their businesses to a new purpose-built factory in Basford.
Both businesses continue to thrive under Nick and Tom – John’s eldest grandson.
A family spokesman said:
“It was thanks to John’s vision and leadership that the family businesses were able to adapt to the changing manufacturing landscape in Britain, surviving where so many others didn’t by carving out niches in precision engineering.
“This has seen them become trusted small parts suppliers to clients in a variety of fields, including Formula One racing.”
John went from helping to construct racing cars to training and breeding racing horses.
Alongside his wife Elizabeth, he enjoyed a sporting career that spanned three decades.
The couple, from Oakamoor, had more than 100 victories on the flat and over jumps. They trained, owned and bred 30 winning horses.
The spokesman added: “To those who knew him, John was a true character whose charisma made him the natural centre of attention wherever he went.
“For all his success, he kept the common touch and had the ability to leave everyone he spoke to with a big smile on their face.
“Large in stature and personality, good-natured and an eternal optimist, he combined decent old-fashioned values with a rare twinkle and an often silly sense of humour.
“This ensured that all who knew him felt great affection for him.
“He was also a family man who cared deeply about his children, grandchildren and other relatives, with whom he loved to spend time at his home during family gatherings.
“John’s passions included pigeon racing, doing endless odd jobs around the farm (often enlisting his grandsons to help), reading the business pages, watching old Westerns on TV, dancing insouciantly at weddings, and the novels of Dick Francis and
PG Wodehouse.” He is survived by his wife of 61 years; brother Richard and sister Anne; son Nick; daughters Suzi and Sarah; brotherin-law John and sister-in-law Ann; grandchildren Felicity, Tom, Paddy, Jack, Maddie, Tristan, Molly, Annabel, Harriet and Luca; and great-grandson Freddie.
In view of the coronavirus restrictions, a small family funeral will take place in due course.
THE A500 was closed in both directions after emergency services were called to a man in distress on a bridge in Stoke.
Emergency services were called to the D-road near Campbell Road, Stoke, at about 11pm on Wednesday.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Once the patient was brought to safety, he was assessed by ambulance staff and transferred to hospital.”