Obituary - Past President - Frank Brake 1933 - 2018

Francis Robert Brake – Frank to us all, was born in 1933 in Holborn, London. The son of publicans, he was the middle of the three older Brake brothers (William, Frank and Peter – Paul being born after the war). Their early lives were disrupted by the outbreak of war in 1939, requiring the brothers to be evacuated from London and separated from their parents for the majority of the war.

Out of necessity, they become strongly independent and self-reliant, the boys attending various wartime schools (in Worthing, Ealing & Banbury) until their final school years at the Licensed Victuallers School, then in Slough. Some decades later he and his brothers marked their gratitude to the LV school by the building of a 6th Form centre.

After leaving school Frank enrolled on a course in Hotel and Catering Management at Borough Polytechnic – now South Bank University. In recognition of his subsequent business achievements Frank was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at the University in 2012 and his Frank Brake scholarship programme has sponsored many deserving students.

In 1952, Frank served his compulsory National Service in the RAF, initially as a trainee pilot, and then being posted to London and then Cardington, in Bedfordshire. In 1954 he subsequently resumed his training in hotel management, working in all rôles at hotels in Lancashire and London (The Park Lane Hotel no less) and experienced the highs and lows of all aspects of hotel life. He was always aware how hard some people’s lives could be, and consequently was always determined to treat people with the utmost respect and compassion and to help others.

His older brother William was by now running a pub in Swindon and on the advice of a local farmer they were also buying, processing and selling chickens. Frank was asked to help out during one busy Christmas and whilst there, they all saw an opportunity to increase this production and he never returned to the hotel business. Working all hours, it was hands on, and sometimes unpleasant work, with little or no mechanisation but eventually, joined by younger brother Peter, they grew out of their town centre premises and moved to Kent.

After some lean times and extremely hard work, their poultry packing business began to grow and the first fledgling Brake Bros (Poultry Packers) business was registered in 1958, supplying chickens to pubs, restaurants and hotels. They also soon started to supply freezers and frozen foods.

In 1972 a decision was made to stop chicken processing and concentrate on supplying a much wider range of frozen foods. Brake Bros are widely acknowledged for changing the food landscape in British pubs and restaurants.

Innovative products, rapid expansion and a strong focus on high quality, efficient procedures and advanced IT systems ensured Brake Bros grew rapidly in the UK and also into France. It became the leading distributor of foods in the UK, with a sophisticated network of rapid distribution centres and an enviable reputation for reliability.

Travelling Great Britain and visiting the Brakes Sales and Distribution centres was a key part of keeping him in touch with life at the coal-face for Frank and these “Royal Tours” as they became known were looked forward to by all concerned as whilst he was the MD, he was also a very personable and humorous chap with whom to deal. Andrew Murray related a story about Brakes who had just opened a million cubic foot cold store in Swindon with mobile racking that moved pallet upon pallet of frozen products at about 2 mph along a sort of internal rail system. Pressing a button started very robust electric motors move a rack about 70 feet long and 30 feet high containing 300 pallets. Watching 10 rows of wall-to-wall chips slowly following one another looked rather like something out of Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

A highly successful public flotation was achieved in 1986, permitting further expansion, acquisitions and success. Sadly Peter died unexpectedly in 1989 and William’s health also declined, leaving Frank as Managing Director to run the business. When Frank retired and the company was sold in 2002, Brakes were a leading food supplier to the food service industry in the UK, with a comprehensive range of products and was also a leading national supplier of chilled and frozen food in France, with a turnover of £1.5bn and employing over 9000 people.

In his personal life, Frank made significant contribution to charities, both through generous personal donations, through his Charitable Trust, and with personal project involvement. Major involvements included project leadership and matched funding for the building of the Kent Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre, significant contributions to Parkinson’s UK and Cure Parkinson’s, Ashford Pilgrim’s Hospice, and many smaller local charities in Kent, where Frank lived for well over 50 years, and remains very well-known and intensely involved in local life.

He also spent much of his time in London, a city he loved, both in his working and personal life, attending conferences, talks, galleries, concerts and dinners. A vibrant city which reflected his thirst for knowledge, his energy and enthusiasm for life!

A lifelong Arsenal supporter, he was always a passionate sports fan; rowing, cricket, soccer and continued to play golf and tennis regularly well into his senior years. He married his wife Evelyn in 1959 and has three children, Michelle, Phillip and Richard.

He placed great emphasis on family strength, creating and supporting initiatives for young people to work hard, better themselves and to create and take opportunities in their lives, values which he always encouraged in his grandchildren and beyond. 

Not content with heading a multimillion pound business, he also found time to become

§  President of the British Frozen Food Federation,

§  Entrepreneur of the Year (South East finalist),

§  Honorary Fellow of London South Bank University,

§  A Freeman of the City of London

§  A Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts

§  Chairman of Ashford Round Table in its 25^th year,

§  President and long serving member of Ashford Rotary Club. He was President in the same year as the Company was floated and a Patron of the British Library.

His interests in supporting Charity, Politics, Sport, London life and his family are legendry and his firm belief in effective communication and the inspiration of others are attributes not always found in leaders today, but aren’t we all glad we could count on him as a friend and fellow member.