Harold Ennis, one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent businessmen in recent decades and founder of the internationally successful Boxmore Packaging Company, has died.
Mr Ennis, who is in his 90s and is from Holywood, also previously served as vice-chairman of Intertrade Ireland.
He had 19 great-grandchildren and a family notice said he was a much loved and cherished husband to the late Maud and father of Mark, Susan, Heather, John and Richard.
The funeral service will be held at 9.45am on Friday, February 23rd at St Philip and St James Parish Church, followed by burial in Clandboy Cemetery.
The family also requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Alzheimer’s Association through johngrayfuneraldirectors.com.
Before being sold to an American company for £191m in 2000, Mr Ennis’ Lisburn-based paper and packaging group Boxmore International went from strength to strength, with businesses from Northern Ireland to the Republic, France and South Africa. , which had expanded to 19 locations in China.
Mr Ennis, who was enjoying retirement in March last year, was photographed with his family at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium after the Irish Rugby team’s Six Nations Grand Slam, a sight he first witnessed in 1948. did.
Mr Ennis was also praised for his work at the Saffron Business Summit event held at Queen’s University Belfast in October last year.
Paul McErlean, managing director of MCE public affairs firm, described Mr Ennis as one of Northern Ireland’s “giants of business” at the start of his career.
Along with Martin Norton, founder of Glen Dimplex, he said:
“I came into contact with them when they were the first chairman and vice-chairman of InterTrade Ireland, the cross-border trade association established after the Good Friday Agreement. He demonstrated true leadership at a difficult time.”