Alec Horsley
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1 September 1902
Alec Horsley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alec Stewart Horsley 1 September 1902 Ripley, Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 11 June 1993 (aged 90) Hessle, East Yorkshire, England |
| Occupations | Businessman, peace activist |
| Known for | Founder of Northern Foods |
Alec Stewart Horsley (1 September 1902 – 11 June 1993) was a British businessman and peace activist best known as the founder of Northern Foods, one of the United Kingdom’s largest food manufacturing companies.[1]
Horsley was born in Ripley, Derbyshire, and educated at Worcester College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[1] After university, he briefly joined the Colonial Service before entering the family dairy-importing business in Hull.[1]
Business career
In 1932, Horsley joined Pape & Co., a Hull-based condensed milk importer. He later established a milk-processing factory at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor in 1937.[1]
In 1942, he registered the expanded dairy operations as Northern Dairies, which later became Northern Foods.[1] Through acquisitions and diversification into chilled and prepared foods, the company grew into a major supplier to British retailers, including Marks & Spencer.[2]
Northern Foods was later listed on the London Stock Exchange and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.[3]
Political and social activism
A lifelong Quaker, Horsley was active in peace movements and civic reform.[1] During the 1940s, he became involved with the Common Wealth Party and later supported the anti-nuclear Committee of 100 movement.[4]
He served as a city councillor in Hull between 1945 and 1949 and was appointed Sheriff of Kingston upon Hull in 1953.[1]