Brit= founder loses cancer battle
Page 52
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Ray Urwin, founder and chairman of used commercial vehicle supplier Britcom International.
Raymond Victor Urwin, was born on 25 July 1944.
He secured his first trucks sales job with Allisons of Doncaster and later went on to work for the Lex Tillotson group, based in Hull, which was the major British Leyland truck distributor.
No surprise to anyone who knew him, Ray turned out to be a natural at sales and he quickly rose up through the ranks at Lex, reaching the position of group sales manager.
As the UK entered the recession of the early 1980s, Ray decided it was time to set out in business using the contacts he had built up in the latter years at Lex.
In 1981, Britcom International Limited was launched as an exporter of commercial vehicles. As with any fledgling business, though, it was a struggle to begin with, but gradually, through tremendous hard work and dedication, it started to take off and sales blossomed in markets such as the Far East, the Caribbean, Cyprus and Africa.
Professionally, Ray was delighted to see Britcom go from strength to strength, and a decision was taken in 2004 to develop its current site on York Road, finally moving into its new premises in July 2006.
That Ray was around to see this move and the fact that he contributed heavily during the design and building stage meant a huge amount to him, and also to others within the company.
Ray had been fighting cancer since being diagnosed in 2002 and on Wednesday 27 May 2009 that battle came to an end. Ray faced his cancer openly and with great courage, knowing that one day it would take him from his beloved family and the company he had built up in the past 28 years.
It was very sad to see how his condition deteriorated so much in the last few weeks, but it is fair to say that he had astounded medical opinion by surviving for the length of time he did, which demonstrated what a great man he was.
Mercifully, when the end came, it did so relatively quickly so Ray didn't suffer for too long.
Ray Urwin will be sadly missed by all at Britcom and in the UK commercial vehicle industry, not to mention his many friends and customers around the world.