Keith Ackroyd obituary: Tribute to Halifax man who was MD of major high street retailer, Boots met Princess Diana and took a trip on Concorde

Keith Ackroyd was born on Francis Street in Halifax and grew up in Moor End Gardens in Mount Tabor, attending Heath Grammar School.

He had aspirations of pursuing a career as a doctor but his family could not afford the fees for such a long course so he opted to study Pharmacy at Bradford Technical College.

Mr Ackroyd joined Boots The Chemists as an apprentice pharmacist at 18 in the Halifax shop in 1952, qualifying four years later.

His career followed a "predictable if somewhat speedier-than-average course” – in the words of Boots on his retirement - over the next 12 years, with a number of management posts culminating in his appointment as territorial general manager in Lancashire in 1967 – an achievement he was the youngest to hit in the company’s history.

He moved to Nottingham in 1971 as a sales promotion manager and was appointed to the board of Boots The Chemists four years later.

In 1977, he was responsible for negotiating the takeover of a drug store chain in Canada, taking Boots into North America, and crossing the Atlantic as he was made the first president of Boots Drug Stores.

The 1980s saw Mr Ackroyd become managing director, first of Boots The Chemists and then the newly formed retail division, incorporating Boots Opticians, Childrens World – which became Mothercare – and the French company Sephora.

During his career, he was also director of Halfords, Victoria Carpets, Silentnight, and later served as chairman of the Trent Regional Health Authority after retiring from Boots in 1994 after 41 years.

He served as chairman of the British Retail Consortium and its precursor, the British Retailers Association, and was part of a group of leading national retailers who formed a high-powered council to campaign for a change in Sunday trading laws.

Mr Ackroyd also met Princess Diana and Princess Anne, and flew on Concorde.

In June 1994 he was awarded a CBE for services to the retail industry.

In his spare time, Mr Ackroyd enjoyed shooting, hosting parties, playing bridge, travelling, going out for meals, and rugby – which he played as a schoolboy and his love for the sport as a spectator continued throughout his life.

He met his future wife Gwenda on his way home from school on the bus and the couple married at Mount Tabor Methodist Church in August 1958.

They were together for 65 years before Mrs Ackroyd’s death in October 2023.

They had three children - Richard, Michael and Kathryn - and moved around the country eight times for work before settling in Nottingham in 1978.

During his retirement, he travelled the world with Mrs Ackroyd and their last holiday together as a couple was taking in the sights of Scarborough, Whitby and the North York Moors.

He is survived by his children Kathryn and Michael, his seven grandsons and one great-grandson.