Rod was my mothers cousin and a born eccentric. He worked as a young man in the holiday camps and made his way up to be in charge of all the Butlin Hotels in the UK.
As I’ve said, Rod was an typical English eccentric and after leaving the employ of Butlins in the 80′s he bought 3 hotels in Scarborough (the Commodore, Cumberland and Carlton) and set up a business empire. He always had time to talk to his customers.
He and some of his Butlins colleagues formed the Penguin Club of Great Britain. It was rather like a variety club where the aim was to raise money for children’s charities.
After a few years he once again was back running some of the Butlins Hotels, although this was now The Grand Hotel Group and he was a director. He loved meeting people and would often be found chatting with customers around the hotels in Llandudno, Scarborough, Folkstone and Saltdean.
In recent years he retired to Scarborough and remarried. He has a young daughter Sasha. he always wanted to serve the public and stood for various local councils, before having a go at tackling Sheffield Central as an independent.
He’ll be missed. Over the years he has made many friends and thousands of customers who knew ‘Rod’. I’ll remember him for his eccentricity, his compassion, his generosity and the sight of his huge frame in a Fiat 500, complete with ‘diplomatic’ flags, his head sticking out of the sunroof.
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