Obituary Robin Verden

As with so many at the time, his first job was with Montague L Meyer in 1951, by way of an introduction by his uncle John Clark, who was a director of London timber agents Price and Pierce. Mr Verden would tell stories of those post-war days when the large agents controlled the trade from extremely grand central London offices and visitors would be greeted by doorkeepers in formal attire.

He learned the trade well during 10 years at Meyer before moving to another London-based timber importer, Messers which had offices in the City. Over a period of 20 years with Messers, during which the company was purchased by Meyer, Mr Verden became sales director and thereafter managing director.

In 1984 he joined another large importer, Macintosh and Partners, based in Henfield, Sussex and was an early adopter of what is now commonplace with his terrier Jack sitting under his desk. He stayed with Macintosh until his retirement in 2004.

Mr Verden’s softwood knowledge was second to none, whether discussing top quality Scandinavian redwood for joinery applications or number three commons for rough and ready formwork from Canada. He was known as a tough but very fair negotiator and suppliers would always recognise a contract he’d signed with his fountain pen in green ink.

Away from his work Mr Verden enjoyed a very busy and colourful social life based in the Hampshire and more latterly, Kent countryside. Dogs would always be plentiful and whilst horses and stabling also kept him busy, his real passion was sailing. He supported the lifeboats and asked in his memory that donations be made to the RNLI through the following website link https://robinverden.muchloved.com

Mr Verden leaves a son and daughter, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.