Former Industry Achievement winner passes away
THE Scottish Grocer is sad to announce the death of industry champion Ross Kerr.
A prominent player in the Scottish retail sector, Ross was best known for his work with Walkers crisps, and helped to introduce the massively popular crisps brand north of the border in 1994. In doing so, he helped to develop one of the UK’s largest FMCG brands.
Following his retirement from Walkers in 2001, Ross went on to work extensively with the Healthy Living Programme as its director, which saw him win the Scottish Grocer Awards’ highest honour of the Industry Achievement Award in 2006.
Ross held the position at the Healthy Living Programme until October 2018, when Kathryn Neil, the current head of the programme, took over.
Ross’ keen interest and dedication to the retail sector was also recognised by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation when he was given an honorary membership in February 2001 – becoming the second supplier ever to have won this award at the time.
Beyond his work in the retail sector, Ross was also sure to give back to others in other ways. He worked extensively with Diabetes UK on a voluntary basis, chaired the charity’s Fife groups, sat on all NHS diabetes committees at a national level and on the Scottish Executive committee for diabetes, again all on a voluntary basis.
This dedication was also noticed by NHS Scotland in 2005 when Ross was named the NHS Scotland Volunteer of the Year from the then health minister, Andy Kerr.
Speaking on Ross’ passing, Pete Cheema, chief executive of the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, said: “Ross Kerr was the Programme Director of the SGF HLP from 2004 to June 2018. He is an Honorary Member of SGF for the services and contribution he made to the retail trade whilst at Walkers crisps. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
