Neil Dudley Swinney, a director of Balfour Timber, died on April 3 after a battle with cancer. He was 50.
Mr Swinney started his career in the timber trade in 1972, when he joined the agency company Gordon Watts.
After living in both Norway and Finland, he returned to the company’s head office in London, working in several departments before heading up the eastern Canadian side of the business.
In 1990 he joined Balfour Timber, and while still specialising in Canadian sales he helped develop trade with the Baltic region as it began emerging as a supplier to the UK.
Mr Swinney will be sadly missed by his many friends and colleagues in the trade. He is survived by his wife Christine, daughters Lisa and Hanna, and son Mark.
Jerry Wilson, managing director of Armstrong Shipley Ltd and TTJ markets writer remembers Neil Swinney:
“Neil was known throughout the timber trade as ‘the’ most perfect gentleman, someone who it was always a great pleasure to do business with and a man of great wisdom and trust.
He was always ready to share his expertise and opinion, something that could always be relied upon – backed by a wealth of knowledge and experience which is so hard to detect in the industry today.
He will be greatly missed by all that knew him, and the trade will be that much poorer without him.”
