THE funeral has taken place of a prominent Otley businessman.

Gordon Brown, 73, of Otley, formerly of the Brown Group International Plc, died peacefully on March 24.

His funeral took place on Friday at the Parish Church of St Michael and St Lawrence in Fewston.

A very well known figure within the industry, Gordon started his career in agricultural contracting, working with his brothers Freddy, Ron and Tony.

From small beginnings they entered the plant industry, which included work on North Sea oil pipelines, motorways and even a contract in Argentina.

Gordon purchased a secondhand Moxy dumptruck in 1977, which was manufactured in Norway and was not a familiar name in the UK at that time. He was impressed with its performance, and over time added more to the fleet.

Fast forward a year or so, and Browns became the dealer for the Moxy throughout the UK. Then the opportunity arose to purchase the company and Ron took over the production of the units in Norway. Gordon continued to market the machines throughout the world.

Gordon and his brothers were at the helm of Brown Group International plc by the 1980s, employing 1,800 people with offices in Europe, the USA, Australasia, Norway and the UK.

They even set up a budget airline called Capital Airways, the precursor to Easyjet and Ryanair.

Gordon knew better than anyone that business is all about ups and downs, with the well documented demise of Brown’s in the early 90s. Whilst he was extremely sad and disappointed for everyone who had been affected, he was not one to give up and he was soon involved in a new project. He and his partners developed and manufactured the DDT dumptruck, which was ultimately sold to Case/CNH Group in the USA in 2000.

In recent years, Gordon was still involved in the industry working at his trading estate near Otley right up to his death, which was exactly the way he wanted his life to be.

Gordon had boundless energy and lived life to the full, with a ‘glass half full’ view of everything he did. He was always happy to share his experiences and knowledge with those he met, with a keen sense of humour and a lot of Yorkshire charm.

Away from work, Gordon loved nothing more than spending time with his family at his home near Otley. He loved the beauty of the moors and was happy walking and spending time in his vegetable garden.

Gordon is survived by his wife, Liz, children, Simon and Tina, and grandson, Max.