THE death of a businessman who helped make a west Belfast firm a "global success" was last night described as a "great loss of a stunning entrepreneur".
Colm Bradley (55), the former managing director of Delta Print & Packaging, died on Wednesday while on holiday in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
He worked for several decades at Delta, founded in 1981 by entrepreneur Terry Cross, who last night described him as man with a "great generosity of spirit".
The firm, which began above a corner shop in west Belfast printing business cards, headed paper and local civil service forms became a multi-million pound global business employing thousands of people.
It made cartons for a string of major global brands including McDonald's, Kellogg's KFC, Tesco and Sainsbury's and in 2016 was acquired by Finnish rival Huhtamaki for £80 million.
In a statement, Dr Cross paid tribute to Mr Bradley, who was originally from north Belfast.
"I’ve been privileged to know and work with Colm Bradley as boy and man and although he was a first class negotiator, he had a great generosity of spirit," he said.
"His mental arithmetic capability was nothing short of astounding.
"Like myself he had no difficulty in learning quickly the technology of the packaging industry and poured his heart and soul into making Delta a global success leading to the creation of employment for over 4,000 people in Belfast, Poland, India and the People’s Republic of China.
"In short, he’s totally irreplaceable and was a living legend to what can be achieved in a very competitive industry.
"A great loss of a stunning entrepreneur both for Northern Ireland and the world.
"We’re all the poorer for his demise and our thoughts and prayers and any support required will be available to his family and multitude of friends."
Mr Bradley is survived by his parents Maureen and Phonsie, brother Eamon, partner Alice and family circle.
