It is with much regret and sadness that we have to inform you that John Mackley, the company’s former Managing Director and Chairman, passed away on the afternoon of Thursday 19 November 2015, aged 68 years.
John and his family and their parents and grandparents had owned and managed the company since it was founded in the 1920s.
John was an active member of the business, as Managing Director until 2004 and as Chairman since then, until the decision was made to sell the company to Van Oord in 2014 in order to secure its future and that of its employees. Although suffering from a debilitating condition, John continued to support the family’s ownership and management of the Mackley Industrial Estate until very recently.
Many of you will be aware that John had been fighting Motor Neurone Disease for the past four years and for a while we all thought he had the disease on the ropes, but over the past 12 months it had managed to get the better of him. On his passing we lost a really warm genuine guy who had mentored many of us over the years and who always put people at the heart of this business.
John loved this business and he took enormous satisfaction from watching the company grow and succeed in tackling very complex and high risk projects. He had great affinity with all those who worked on site and he liked nothing better than to visit our projects and chat with everyone involved. He was also very active outside of the business and his life was enriched by the many pursuits that he took up and the friends that he acquired on the way.
Our deepest and heartfelt thoughts and sympathies go to his wife Diane and his son James and daughter Danya and their families, his sister Sally and John’s cousin Tony Mackley, and their respective families, and his many friends and acquaintances.
He was a friend to us all and we will all miss him deeply.
John’s funeral was held at Worthing Crematorium on Thursday 3 December at 11am followed by a wake at Sussex Yacht Club, 85/89 Brighton Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex BN43 6RE. Donations please to Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) or RNLI, through Chalcrafts Funeral Directors, Chequers Yard, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3 RE.
