It is with regret that we announce that Chris Hutt, Fleet Sales Director of Ford & Slater Ltd, passed away on Saturday 3^rd October after a short period of illness, aged 75 years.

Chris enjoyed a wonderful, highly successful and long career with Ford & Slater that spanned 57 ½ years.  As Fleet Sales Director he made a significant and lasting contribution to the success of Ford & Slater and the wider DAF Trucks organisation in the UK.  His leadership across all areas of the company was greatly appreciated by us.

After attending Gresham’s school in Norfolk, Chris joined Ford & Slater as an HGV Technician Apprentice working on Leyland Lorries in Fordham, Cambridgeshire.  Bill Ford, son of the company’s founder Jack Ford, was Ford & Slater’s Managing Director in the early 1970’s and he almost immediately identified Chris as a highly intelligent, articulate and presentable young person who would go far in the industry.

Motorsport was extremely popular at the end of the 1970s and Chris was given the opportunity to race a Leyland lorry in the British Truck Racing series.  This opportunity was seized enthusiastically, and he raced all over the UK until 1988 when the sport turned semi-professional.

Chris progressed smoothly through the ranks of Ford & Slater, this included managing the company’s Nottingham dealership in the 1980s where his talent for repairing met the opportunity for selling.  Chris possessed an unrivalled engineering knowledge that was always demonstrated with characteristic modesty and professionalism.

Chris would focus on specifying the optimal engineering solution to meet a customer’s needs, as well as providing the very highest level of customer service and account management once the truck had entered service.  This was partly in a world before mobile phones, email and Teams calls.  Customers became devoted friends along the way whilst Chris enjoyed talking to HGV Technicians about the challenges they faced and technological developments.

He witnessed certain of the particularly good, as well as more challenging times in the history of Ford & Slater as it transitioned from being a family company led by Bill Ford, through to Unilever’s ownership, and eventually back into a private, family company.  During the 1990s Chris collaborated very successfully with Peter Strevens, John Barber, Barry Waterfield, Jan Smith and Rose Ballard to establish Ford & Slater as a highly successful fleet dealer group.

He possessed a rare skillset of communication skills, knowledge and genuine interest in every aspect of the truck that allowed him to relate equally well to the differing needs of the Driver, Group CEO, Parts advisor, Manufacturer, Diagnostic Technician, Bodybuilder, Fleet Engineering Manager, Distribution Director or Procurement team.

Chris always lived life to the maximum.  In recent weeks, Chris and his wife Pamela hosted customers at Newmarket racecourse, he attended the Motor Transport Awards dinner in London and represented Ford & Slater at the IAA Transportation show in Hannover during the last week of September.  For over twenty years Chris & Pamela were excellent hosts and ambassadors at the annual London IRTE dinners alongside Peter & Janet Strevens and Steve & Sue Barton.

He had a tremendous interest in the next generation of Battery Electric Vehicles, and he was one of the very first persons to drive an electric car over 10 years ago.

When he was not at work, Chris was helping his son James build his own very successful family business in Cambridge, quite rightly a source of tremendous pride, as well as helping out on his nephews’ nearby farm.  He devoted thousands of hours to his family and assisted James rebuilding many different vehicles.  Many friends learnt so much from his research and ability to repair almost any and/or every piece of mechanical machinery.

Chris married Pamela in 1978, and they lived happily in Fen Ditton for nearly forty years, more recently enjoying skiing holidays together, the countryside and spending time with their grandchildren.

The directors of Ford & Slater would like to thank the Addenbrookes Neurosciences Critical Care Unit for their dedication and care over the past fortnight.  For many years prior, Chris was receiving treatment for an ongoing health condition and the determination he exhibited throughout his long illness was an inspiration to others.  He was determined to keep himself very fit and healthy, and as noted previously he was an expert on and off-piste skier who enjoyed annual holidays in St Anton, one of the most challenging, difficult and exciting ski resorts in the Alps.

Chris was greatly respected for his humble, polite and kind manner throughout his life, and always in his dealings with others, and he will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to know him.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Pamela, James, family and friends at this most difficult time.