Carl Ross

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(John) Carl Ross (b. 29 July 1901, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England; d. January 9, 1986 in Grimsby) was a successful fishery entrepreneur and architect of the forerunner company to Young's Bluecrest, currently the UK's leading frozen fish specialist.

The fourth of six children of Thomas Ross, founder of a fish merchanting firm of the same name, Carl Ross was educated at the East Anglian School (where he was a county hockey player) and served briefly in the Royal Navy before joining the family business in 1918 when he was demobilized. Thomas retired early in 1928 upon which Carl took control and instigated a number of radical new ideas such as the import of frozen halibut and salmon from North America - resulting in a steady period of expansion into the years following the end of the Second World War.

While Ross was developing his fish merchanting activities, he recognised that the future of the fishing industry might lie in integrating fish catching, processing, and merchanting, and he built the first diesel trawlers in the mid-1930s. He purchased nine more vessels in 1943 and acquired a majority shareholding in Trawlers Grimsby Ltd, in 1944. This was the foundation-stone of what became the Ross Group.

According to his obiturary (The Times 14 Jan 1986), despite having had no formal finance or accountancy training, Ross demonstrated a great talent for reading and understanding figures and gained respect in the City. An extensive series of take-overs of companies engaged in all aspects of the fishing industry, including major catching and processing companies in Hull, gave the Ross Group a dominant situation on the Humber.

In the early 1950s, when Carl Ross recognized that the fish industry was but part of the food industry, he extended the Ross frozen fish business to become Ross Foods. An added dimension to the Ross Foods business was the acquisition of the Youngs shellfish company.

In 1956 Ross secured twenty of the best North Sea skippers through acquisition, and his ensuing building programme of Bird and Cat class North Sea and Middle Water trawlers was a resounding success. The profitable record of the Ross vessels became renowned and the Group built many more, mostly at the Cochrane yards at Selby, which it acquired. At its peak, the Ross Group owned the largest fishing fleet in Europe.

Carl Ross established Ross Poultry (1961), which played a major role in the rationalisation of the British poultry industry; created the biggest UK potato distributor; and developed a number of diverse activities including the chain of Ross Motorway Services (1965).

In the very rapid growth of the Ross Group, the only set-back Carl Ross encountered was in 1966, when the Monopolies Commission refused to allow his bid for Associated Fisheries Ltd, the other major company in the industry.

Carl Ross parted company with the Ross Group after a somewhat acrimonious boardroom struggle in the late 1960s, which culminated in the take-over of the company by Imperial Group Ltd in 1970. Although almost seventy, he then played a major role as chairman in developing the Grimsby-based marine equipment specialist Cosalt plc. He maintained an active interest in the affairs of that company until he died.

Ross had married Elsie Hartley, daughter of a Blackburn cotton salesman in 1928. They had two sons and two daughters. He enjoyed golf and shooting and owned several racehorses. He obtained a pilot's licence and played an active role in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve cadet force during the Second World War. Amongst other acolades, he was a past president and leading member of the Fishing Industry Sports Association and a generous contributor to many charities. He was president of the Grimsby Conservative Association for some twenty-five years from 1954.

His grandson is David Ross, the co-founder of the mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse with an estimated wealth of £312m ^[1]