Jon Jones, a well-known figure in the British topfruit industry and director at Richard Hochfeld, has died at the age of 62.
Jones passed away last week following a short illness, the company confirmed. He leaves behind a wife and three grown-up children.
Having started his career working on the markets for JO Sims, Jones moved to Richard Hochfeld on 3 November 1984 as assistant to Andre Guindi at The Fruit Exchange in Spitalfields.
He embraced the company’s initial move out of London to Paddock Wood, becoming the first staff member to move home, to Marden in Kent. He went on to become a shareholder and build up Hochfeld’s global apple business.
Jones was known to be very proud of the association he helped create between Richard Hochfeld and Adrian Scripps, establishing a firm friendship with Scripps’ managing director James Simpson.
In his spare time, he was regarded as an excellent squash player and played cricket for the Kent County Veterans as recently as last summer.
Hochfeld managing director Alan Guindi said: “I had the pleasure of knowing Jonathan for around 35 years. Jon was a true gentleman, funny and kind. He once said to me that his job defined who he was. He took great pride in work, especially on UK topfruit, and was passionate about his family. We are a very close bunch at Richard Hochfeld and his death leaves us all shocked and saddened.”
A service for Jones is taking place on Friday 10 November.
