Tributes to ‘generous’ and ‘kind’ businessman Michael Mander

Michael Mander, who started his career at the family’s Mander Brothers paint and printing-ink producer in Wolverhampton, died in London after suffering from dementia.

After leaving the family business, he later worked in the banking and entertainment industries.

His partner of 57 years, Derek Collins, paid tribute to Mr Mander as a kind-hearted, generous individual with a passion for the theatre and travel.

The son of Lt Col Vivien Mander and Margaret Mander, nee Graham, Michael Graham Mander was born in Stafford and educated at Winchester College, before being called up for National Service.

He attended the Mons Officer Training School at Aldershot, where he was awarded the Sword of Honour for the best cadet officer on his course. He went on to serve with the 10th Hussars, rising to the rank of Captain. On completing his National Service he returned to the West Midlands to join the family paint and printing-ink business.

“He went to Russia with Manders in the 1950s, to see how paint and ink was produced there, and they then paid a return visit to see how it was done here,” said Mr Collins. “He was one of the earliest people to go to Russia after the Second World War.”

In the early 1960s Mr Mander joined the Singer and Friedlander merchant bank, becoming a regional director in 1963, based at the bank’s Birmingham office.

After leaving the bank in the early 1970s, Mr Mander became involved in a number of business ventures, allowing him to indulge in his love of the theatre. He became involved in a number of theatrical production companies, becoming a director of the London-based P W Productions, best known for its West End productions of Susan Hill’s Woman in Black and J B Priestley’s An Inspector Calls.

Mr Collins, who met Mr Mander while on holiday in the South of France, said country sports were another of Mr Mander’s great loves.

“He was a very keen shot and he loved fishing,” he said. “We did a lot of travelling together, we went to most of the countries around the world. He loved entertaining family and friends and he was a very good cook. He was an all-round bon viveur and was always generous and kind to his many friends and his family.

“He also loved bridge, he was a very good bridge player.

“He was very funny, and had a wonderful sense of humour, and was brilliantly dressed always.”

Mr Mander bought a house in Worfield, near Bridgnorth, in 1965, where he remained for the rest of his life, splitting his time between Shropshire and London. The couple also had a house in Key West, Florida, from 1982 to 1992. A private funeral will be held in London on November 13.