Barry John Dodd (2 October 1947 – 30 May 2018) was an entrepreneur who ran a graphics company, GSM Group. He was appointed as the

Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire The position of Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire was created on 1 April 1974. Since 1996 the position has included the areas south of the River Tees in the former county of Cleveland. Upon the dissolution of Cleveland, Lord Gisborough was made ...

in September 2014. Dodd was killed in a helicopter crash in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

in May 2018.

Life

Dodd was born in Salford, but raised in Canada and in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

where his mother worked as a court reporter and then in real estate. Dodd returned to England to finish his schooling and to study engineering at Hatfield Polytechnic. Dodd worked as a graduate trainee at the petrochemicals firm ICI where he took on management roles in

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He formed GSM with a colleague from his days at ICI in 1974. The company specialises in labels and barcoding equipment, sheet metal assemblies and automotive components. Through many acquisitions, the company employed over 400 people at nine sites across the United Kingdom by the time of Dodd's death. He was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 2006. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 2014 for services to the United Kingdom economy and was made an

Officer of the Order of St John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

in February 2018.

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

wrote to Dodd in 2014 asking if he would like to be nominated to be

. Dodd accepted and was elevated to the role in September of the same year taking over from Lord Crathorne. He also served as chair of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding

local enterprise partnership In England, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) were voluntary partnerships between local authorities and businesses, set up in 2011 by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help determine local economic priorities and lead ec ...

; as Pro-Chancellor of the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

; and chair of the joint

Hull York Medical School Hull York Medical School (HYMS) is a medical school in England which took its first intake of students in 2003. It was opened as a part of the British government's attempts to train more doctors, along with Brighton and Sussex Medical School, P ...

. In November 2018, Dodd was posthumously awarded the ''Individual Award for Excellence'' in The Yorkshire Post business awards 2018. The award was collected on his behalf by his widow, Frances.

Personal life

Dodd met his wife, Frances McTigue, at a party in 1970, but they did not marry until 1978. Dodd and his wife, Frances, lived in Carlton-in-Cleveland a village in North Yorkshire where he kept a selection of vintage vehicles.

Death

Dodd died on 30 May 2018, aged 70, when the Bell 206B helicopter he was piloting crashed into a field at Aldborough near to

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge ( ) is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the main A1 road from London to Edinburgh, which c ...

. He had taken off from

Husthwaite __NOTOC__ Husthwaite is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north from Easingwold. History The name probably derives from the Middle English 'hous', from Old English 'hus' meaning ...

just a few minutes earlier; Dodd was the only person on board. An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) inquiry concluded that the helicopter had crashed in bad weather, probably due to the pilot becoming disorientated in the cloud. Dodd was taking the helicopter from Husthwaite to an airfield at Walton Wood for an annual service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, Barry John 1947 births 2018 deaths People from Salford Lord-lieutenants of North Yorkshire Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in England Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of St John Helicopter pilots Officers of the Order of the British Empire Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents in the United Kingdom Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2018