THE boss of a third generation transport company has paid tribute to his late father’s “incredible legacy”.
Maurice Dawson, a leading North-East businessman who led Middlesbrough’s AV Dawson to significant growth, has passed away, aged 75.
His son, Gary, said his dad was a “big character” and a true “father figure and mentor to many”.
Maurice died peacefully at his home in Hutton Rudby, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire, surrounded by his family.
The former diesel fitter apprentice spent years as a long-distance lorry driver. He then became joint managing director at AV Dawson alongside his mother, Eleanor, overseeing its successes for a number of years before becoming chairman when he handed the reins at the freight logistics firm over to Gary.
Last year, Maurice received a Doctorate of Business Administration from Teesside University, joking at the time he thought “they had made a mistake”.
Speaking to The Northern Echo about his father’s impact on the region’s business community, Gary said: “Losing my dad and business partner at the same time is really tough.
“We are all so proud of what Maurice has achieved over the years and personally I could not have been more proud than when he was awarded an honorary degree from Teesside University for his commitment to business.
“Maurice has been a big character in Teesside and beyond, was really committed to the local area, and was a father figure and a mentor to many.
“Through everyone’s kind messages of support and condolence, I’ve become even more aware of quite how many people he touched.
“He leaves us with an incredible legacy and we will of course continue to honour what he has created and work together to make him proud.”
AV Dawson was founded in 1938 when Maurice’s parents, Vernie and Eleanor, started business with £50 for horse Dina, her shoes and a cart to deliver coal.
Maurice left school in 1956 aged 15 and became joint managing director at 30. By 1980, he and his mother had expanded AV Dawson’s haulage fleet to 60 vehicles and commissioned industrial units and small warehouses to be built on their site. A few years later, and recovering from the brink of closure in 1984 after battling the recession, Maurice built up AV Dawson again when he bought British Steel’s Ayton Rolling Mill, putting the company in line for work with organisations such as ICI and Cleveland Potash.
Speaking upon receiving his Teesside University honour last year, Maurice said he’s always “kept his head below the parapet and quietly kept going”, adding he was tremendously grateful for the hard work and dedication of AV Dawson’s workforce.
The firm now employs around 240 people and last year opened a £6.5m steel store to help strengthen North-East car making.
The 102,000 sq ft shed is capable of handling hundreds of thousands of tonnes of automotive steel coil every year and features a rail track for trains to deliver cargo from Tata Steel’s south Wales operations, with a specialist dehumidification system keeping the coil in perfect condition. The store is part of a wider expansion at the company, which also saw it create more than 60 jobs, build a £3.4m deepwater quay, and set up a £2.6m rail terminal linked to the East Coast Main Line.
