Chamber President Phil Ascough compiles some tributes to Derek Myers, former Chamber Director and Secretary
Pictured considering their next moves in a light-hearted chess game are Ian Kelly, Derek Myers and Bill Hope. Picture courtesy of Hull Daily Mail.
DEREK Myers, who died recently aged 86, was a quiet, modest and measured man and an immense figure in the regional business community.
As Director and Secretary of the Hull Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, in the days before the merger to create the Hull and Humber Chamber, Derek was the last link between the modern organisation and the traditional business body which had been led by his revered predecessor Bill Hope.
Derek was appointed to the top job in 1985 and he stood down 10 years later, succeeded by current Chief Executive Ian Kelly. But Derek never disappeared completely from Chamber life. He retained a keen interest, and would always ask about the Chamber’s work and its people whenever we bumped into him at events in and around the city.
Our knowledge and experience of Derek is first and foremost of his work and status in business, and it was illuminating and entertaining to hear members of his family tell of his other interests and activities when a large congregation gathered to pay their respects at Derringham Bank Methodist Church.
Derek was born in Hull and only left the city for any prolonged length of time for military matters – evacuation to Hunmanby during the Second World War, and National Service with the RAF in Derby some years later.
He attended Hull Grammar School and nearly 61 years ago married Dorothy, who he had first met at the church youth club when he was just 16. Their three daughters and five grandchildren pooled experiences and anecdotes to tell of Derek’s love of the church, travel, football and gardening – and his sense of mischief.
While in the RAF he played football because he enjoyed it, and because it gave him an extra day off. He learned to drive the fire engine around the RAF base, not because he wanted to be a fire fighter but because it offered convenient transport after a night out.
Either side of National Service, Derek worked as a civil servant with the education department in Hull. He joined the Chamber in 1962 as Assistant Secretary to Bill Hope. The Chamber’s links with the many business sectors of the day were such that at one point he was also secretary to 15 different trade organisations, including the Hull Association of Port Labour Employers.
His sense of fairness was one of the attributes which brought appointment as a magistrate, and as a member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. He served as a governor to various schools and still found time to teach shorthand part-time at Hull College of Further Education.
He was able to indulge his passion for travel in his Chamber role, leading trade missions to such far flung markets as Australia, China and Hong Kong. With the Chamber currently looking at the idea of a North Sea Networking event, it is little surprise to learn that Derek used to organise such trips years ago.
He is remembered fondly by all who knew him. Maureen Foers OBE, President in 1994 and 1995, said: “I have no doubt I was his greatest challenge as the first woman President in the Chamber’s 150-plus years! ‘Call me Maureen’ was, I am sure, a shock to him on my first visit to the Chamber as President. Tradition had been so very different with the men in grey suits before me.
“I was president at a time of great change in the Chamber and Derek was always there with his years of wisdom to help with sometimes difficult decisions. A perfect gentleman who was meticulous and thoughtful in everything he did. A great credit to the Chamber over the many years he served the membership. Not just a colleague, but a friend.”
Dr Andrew Milner, President in 1987 and again in 1997, said: “Derek was an extremely loyal servant of the Chamber, its many affiliated bodies and the members they all served. He was highly respected and worked hard in the interests of members. Most importantly, Derek was an enormous source of experience, knowledge and advice gathered over many years of working for the Chamber and through his contacts with leading companies and their directors and with politicians, including Ministers and in particular the local MPs.”
Ian Kelly, Chief Executive of the Chamber, added: “Derek, Bill and I kept in touch. Bill Hope joined the Chamber as Assistant Secretary in 1950 and retired in 1985. Derek, who became Bill's great friend, joined him in 1962 and retired in 1995. In Dr Who terms there have only been 11 incarnations of Chamber Secretaries or Chief Executive in the Chamber's 180-year history.
“Perhaps the most famous was Mr Smith, who became Secretary after he passed his chemist business to his nephew. But Derek Myers must surely go down as the nicest of our small brethren. To outsiders who might have watched us all at the occasional lunch, it may have appeared that we operated like a local episode of Yes Minister, with three Sir Humphreys putting the world to rights. If so you can be sure they would have always quickly warmed to our now late great Derek, the understated perfect gentleman of our rare breed.”
But the last word goes to Derek’s family, daughters Gill, Christine and Karen, and grandchildren Laura, Amy, Jack, Tom and Luke. They remember a true gentleman, a loving husband and father and “a perfect grandad.”
