Carl Ross
Encyclopedia
Carl Ross was a fishery entrepreneur and architect of the forerunner company to Young's Bluecrest
, the UK's largest frozen fish producer.
(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 introduced new ideas such as the import of frozen halibut and salmon from North America, resulting in a steady period of expansion after Second World War.
Ross married Elsie Hartley, daughter of a Blackburn cotton salesman in 1928. They had two sons and two daughters. 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. He was president of the Fishing Industry Sports Association and a generous contributor to charity. 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.
.
According to The Times
, despite having had no formal finance or accountancy training, Ross demonstrated a great talent for reading and understanding figures. An extensive series of take-overs of companies in 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, Carl Ross extended the frozen fish business to become Ross Foods and acquired Youngs shellfish company. In 1956 Ross secured twenty North Sea
skippers through acquisition, and built up a Bird and Cat class North Sea and Middle Water trawler enterprise which went on to acquire the Cochrane yards at Selby
. 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 industrialisation of the British poultry industry and became the largest chicken producer in Europe; 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.
The Ross group acquired Great Grimsby Coal, Salt and Tanning Company (Cosalt
), a firm founded in 1873 as a cooperative that sold supplies needed to run a fishing fleet. The business was listed on the London Stock Exchange
in 1971.
Carl Ross parted company with the Ross Group after a boardroom struggle in the late 1960s, which culminated in the take-over of the company by Imperial Group Ltd in 1970.
Young's Bluecrest
Young's Seafood Ltd. is a British producer and distributor of frozen, fresh, and chilled seafood, supplying approximately 40% of all the fish eaten in the United Kingdom every year. It is headquartered in Grimsby, England....
, the UK's largest frozen fish producer.
Biography
Carl (John) Ross was the fourth of six children of Thomas Ross, founder of a fish merchanting firm of the same name. Carl Ross was educated at Culford SchoolCulford School
Culford School is a coeducational HMC and IAPS public school for pupils age 3–18. Founded in 1881, it is situated in Culford, four miles north of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England.-History:...
(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 introduced new ideas such as the import of frozen halibut and salmon from North America, resulting in a steady period of expansion after Second World War.
Ross married Elsie Hartley, daughter of a Blackburn cotton salesman in 1928. They had two sons and two daughters. He obtained a pilot's licence and played an active role in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve consists of a number of groupings of individual military reservists for the management and operation of the Royal Air Force's Air Training Corps and CCF Air Cadet formations, Volunteer Gliding Squadrons , Air Experience Flights, and also to form the...
cadet force during the Second World War. He was president of the Fishing Industry Sports Association and a generous contributor to charity. He was president of the Grimsby Conservative Association for some twenty-five years from 1954.
His grandson is David Ross
David Ross (businessman)
David Peter John Ross , is an English businessman, co-founder with school friend Charles Dunstone of The Carphone Warehouse. At peak valuation of his business interests, Ross was one of the 100 richest people in the United Kingdom. A profile in The Daily Telegraph put his current net worth at...
, the co-founder of the mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse with an estimated wealth of £312m.
Ross group
While Ross was developing his fish merchanting activities, he recognised that the future of the fishing industry lay in integrating fish catching, processing, and merchanting, 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 GroupRoss Group
The Ross Group was a British food company founded in Grimsby, England in 1920.The Ross brand remains common in the retail frozen fish market...
.
According to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, despite having had no formal finance or accountancy training, Ross demonstrated a great talent for reading and understanding figures. An extensive series of take-overs of companies in the fishing industry, including major catching and processing companies in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, gave the Ross Group a dominant situation on the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
.
In the early 1950s, Carl Ross extended the frozen fish business to become Ross Foods and acquired Youngs shellfish company. In 1956 Ross secured twenty North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
skippers through acquisition, and built up a Bird and Cat class North Sea and Middle Water trawler enterprise which went on to acquire the Cochrane yards at Selby
Selby
Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...
. 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 industrialisation of the British poultry industry and became the largest chicken producer in Europe; The only set-back Carl Ross encountered was in 1966, when the Monopolies Commission
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission is a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom...
refused to allow his bid for Associated Fisheries Ltd, the other major company in the industry.
The Ross group acquired Great Grimsby Coal, Salt and Tanning Company (Cosalt
Cosalt
Cosalt plc was a diversified marine safety and leisure company, based in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. It was a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index....
), a firm founded in 1873 as a cooperative that sold supplies needed to run a fishing fleet. The business was listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 1971.
Carl Ross parted company with the Ross Group after a boardroom struggle in the late 1960s, which culminated in the take-over of the company by Imperial Group Ltd in 1970.