Tributes to plumber who sold company he founded to British Gas for £30m
Tributes have been paid to a popular plumber who sold his business to British Gas for £30 million – five decades after starting out as a sole trader running a business from his dining table.
Phil Jones who founded PH Jones, a central heating company which employed 850 people, died suddenly on Christmas Day. He was 74.
Mr Jones launched the firm in Malpas, near Whitchurch, with his wife Brenda back in 1963 and sold it to British Gas in May 2011.
He also founded Beech House Nursing Home, in Wollerton, near Market Drayton, opening the business in 1990 and going on to sell it in 2005.
Today his daughter Wendy Raichura described her father as an "inspirational man" who adored his three children and 12 grandchildren.
She said: "My dad was very bright and full of fun and mischief. He was always disruptive especially at the dinner table when playing with his grandchildren who he loved to bits.
"He was always laughing and was never stressed and was a great entrepreneur.
"He really was very intelligent and very inspirational.
"He did so well in life but his real talent was that could reach out and connect with everyone. Whether it was children, teenagers, humble people or lords and ladies, he could connect with them all."
Mr Jones's two sons Martin and Chris also worked for the family firm and helped the business grow.
Chris said: "In 1963 my dad was a plumber and heating engineer and built the business up to be the largest privately owned plumbing and heating company in Britain turning over £96 million a year.
"He did it through hard work and dedication. I don't think he ever expected to do so well but his aim was always to provide for his family.
"My mother was also key to it all and they worked as a partnership.
"He really loved her and was a wonderful husband.
"For myself, Wendy and Martin he was a fabulous mentor and a fantastic father as well as a great friend."
Babs Bickley has worked for the Jones family for the past 27 years.
She added: "Mr Jones was a fantastic man and the amount of people he employed across Shropshire was amazing.
"No matter what your job, Mr Jones treated everyone the same.
"Everyone was the same level in his eyes. He was a brilliant man and very fair."
