The philanthropic widow who helped steer a British cough candy model in the direction of international success has left behind £41 million to charity after passing away earlier this yr.
Doreen Lofthouse, who made her fortune after remodeling Fisherman’s Pal from a Lancashire dock-based agency into a world powerhouse offered throughout 120 nations, handed away aged 91 in March.
In her will, Doreen left greater than £300,00 to be shared amongst her housekeepers, secretaries and gardeners, stories the Solar. She additionally left behind helpful jewelry to her surviving son’s spouse, Linda Lofthouse.
The rest of her estimated £41million fortune will go to her Lofthouse Basis, which gives tens of millions of kilos in charitable investments in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
Described as a ‘true pioneer’ by those that knew her, the entrepreneurial genius of Doreen allowed her to reinvest tens of millions into her beloved coastal city, incomes her the nickname ‘the Mom of Fleetwood’.
However her influence on the household enterprise was so seismic that the measurements of the aniseed lozenge was modelled on a button on a costume worn by Doreen in 1974.
Doreen Lofthouse, who made her fortune after remodeling Fisherman’s Pal from a Lancashire dock-based agency into a world powerhouse offered throughout 120 nations, handed away aged 91 in March
![Fisherman's Friends were first introduced to Fleetwood by chemist James Lofthouse in 1865 as a remedy for sailors' sore throats. [File picture]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/21/00/49442773-10113989-image-a-24_1634774032869.jpg)
Fisherman’s Pals have been first launched to Fleetwood by chemist James Lofthouse in 1865 as a treatment for sailors’ sore throats. [File picture]
Fisherman’s Pals have been first launched to Fleetwood by chemist James Lofthouse in 1865 as a treatment for sailors’ sore throats.
For the subsequent 100 years, his creation was merely confined to the fishing neighborhood of Fleetwood. However then a sparky younger woman with brilliant concepts married into the household.
Doreen, who left college aged 15 with no {qualifications} helped launch Fisherman’s Pals in the direction of international stardom – with 5 billions sweets offered globally annually to the tune of £55m annual income.
The entrepreneurial genius of Mrs Lofthouse allowed her to reinvest tens of millions into her beloved coastal city, incomes her the nickname ‘the Mom of Fleetwood’
After rising up in Fleetwood Lancs, she labored as a clerk in a family-run chemist within the coastal city that was famend for promoting liquorice medicinal cures to native trawlermen.
Doreen was initially married to Alan Lofthouse, who labored within the household pharmacy. After their divorce, she re-married with Tony Lofthouse, 15 years her junior, in 1976.
Tony was working within the seasonal retailers when Doreen arrived on the scene. By all accounts, she had an identical impact to a complete mouthful of Fisherman’s Pal.
‘She noticed all these letters from individuals in Blackburn or Accrington or wherever wanting Fisherman’s Pal, so she obtained in a automotive and drove off to those cities and regarded for a superb store.
‘Then she would present the shopkeeper the letters. If he stocked the lozenges, she would ship all these individuals to that store.’
With the pair working 100-hour weeks, gross sales soared and manufacturing doubled on the lozenge machine within the again room of the household store in Lord Road.
Then Doreen had a breakthrough. She had persuaded a department of Boots close to Birmingham to inventory Fisherman’s Pal and it had carried out so properly that Boots’ headquarters obtained in contact.
Inside a handful of years, the enterprise was in a position to transfer right into a newly transformed tram shed, earlier than increasing additional with a 20,000sq ft unit in Fleetwood in 1972.
Doreen, who was awarded an OBE in 2008, as soon as despatched a packet of lozenges to Margaret Thatcher after seeing her coughing in public.
Her household’s influence on the native space is appreciable, from a £1.6 million renovation of the native hospital to the £750,000 statue of Eros on the principle highway into Fleetwood.
Garry Payne, chief govt of Wyre Council mentioned after her passing: ‘Mrs Lofthouse was a real pioneer of Fleetwood… She was a girl who deeply cared concerning the city and I thank her for every part she has finished.’