Michael Ian Holdsworth, the founder of Holdsworth Foods, has passed away aged 85 years.
Born in 1940, Holdsworth initially followed in his own father’s footsteps, pursuing a career in butchery and gaining experience at both Mattocks and Dentons high-class butchers in Sheffield. He then went on to study Management before taking on a management position at local chicken processing business J. Thornhill & Sons in Great Longstone.
It was in 1969 that Michael’s natural entrepreneurial flair saw him realise his own business ambitions, when he saw opportunities in wholesale food provision in the local area. He launched Michael I Holdsworth Limited, operating out of a small garage unit in Stoney Middleton, selling and delivering oven-ready frozen chickens to local public houses.
As his number of customers and their demands increased, Michael began sourcing more product lines from the markets in nearby Sheffield and soon outgrew his original premises, facilitating a move for the business and his growing family to The Mill on Manchester Road in Tideswell, where the Holdsworth Foods head office remains today.
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As his business grew, Michael employed a former Thornhill colleague, John Marriott, who remained Michael’s right-hand man for 40 years. Many dedicated and long-serving employees at Holdsworth consider Michael a friend and feel honoured to have worked alongside him. These friends recall grafting alongside Michael day in and day out, not for reward or recognition, but for Michael. He always led from the front.
He was a founding member of Fairway Foodservice, a frozen food buying consortium which was instrumental in the growth and development of his own business, as well as other similar regional wholesalers.
He made many friends of suppliers, customers and his teams alike, and was actively involved in both his business and the wider industry. He was a character, respected and warmly regarded by many, always willing to give others a helping hand without expectation of anything in return.
Holdsworth Foods grew to be a highly successful national food distribution business, a leader in its field, now operating out of 10 sites across England and Wales.
Michael retired as Managing Director in 1999 and John Marriott took on the mantle. John successfully led the company to further growth before his retirement in 2023, with Michael’s son Rupert the current Managing Director.
