THE millionaire founder of artisan food producer Finnebrogue in Downpatrick has died after a tragic accident.
Denis Lynn (63), who overseen the firm’s extraordinary growth into the major player it is today, was killed when the quad bike he was riding is believed to have overturned.
In a statement the company - which he built from being a sole trader to one with sales of £150 million and nearly 1,000 staff - described him as "an innovator and a visionary with an infectious passion for delivering positive change for the planet and its people."
Denis leaves his wife Christine and daughters Kerry, Clare, Tara and Ciara.
"Our thoughts are with them and the entire family at this incredibly difficult time," the company said.
Denis leaves behind an extraordinary list of achievements. He also leaves behind Finnebrogue and a vision for its future. Finnebrogue was his creation. It now falls on all of us - the Finnebrogue family - to continue his outstanding work."
The board of directors met yesterday and non-executive director David Manning has been appointed interim-Chairman with immediate effect. Non-executive director Colin Walsh has been appointed interim deputy-chairman, while the senior management team will lead the business on a day-to-day basis.
Finnegbrogue has set up an email account, RememberingDenis@finnebrogue.com, for people to send their memories and condolences, which it says it will compile and publish in due course.
"Denis was our founder, leader and inspiration. We will best honour his memory by invoking his passion for making food the best it can possibly be, without being bound by the way it’s always been done - and by trying every day to make the world a better place," the company's statement adds.
Leading all of Finnebrogue’s commercial activity, Denis started by selling pizzas and pies out of a van before realising that to be successful he needed to maximise volume and margin. In discovering a new French fry, he became the largest customer of Lord Chips in Europe and used the money he made to buy the Finnebrogue estate in Downpatrick in 1991.
During the 1990s he was a beef farmer and then a deer farmer. He established Finnebrogue as the largest farmer and processor of deer in the UK, supplying Michelin star restaurants, top supermarkets and celebrity chefs.
Since then, he has been at the heart of many food revolutions, from the posh dog to nitrite-free bacon.
The company employs more than 900 people across four sites in Co Down.
He has grown the business’s turnover to £150 million, producing premium sausages, bacon, ham, venison, and wagyu beef burgers
In the last five years alone, he has opened four state of the art factories, most recently a new £25m production site for next generation plant-based food launched in December.
In 2018, the Institute of Directors named Denis as the UK’s most innovative director of the year.
Tributes have been paid from across the business and political arena.
South Down MLA Jim Wells described him as "a self-made giant of business, who has made an enormous contribution to this area, building a multi-million pound business from virtually nothing."
Extending her sympathies to Denis’s wife and family on his untimely passing, peer Lady Margaret Ritchie said "he brought innovation and entrepreneurship to his food processing business and created numerous jobs within the community in Lecale and Downpatrick".
