Doreen Lofthouse was 33 years old when she started the family business to make it a project of unexpected dimensions. The Fisherman’s Friend company, which specializes in menthol candy, has relieved the throats of Fleetwood’s fishermen for years; now, on the death of the entrepreneur, it will continue to bring benefits to the coastal village. Lofthouse, who passed away in March, has decided to donate over 41 million of her fortune to charity for the development of her hometown, located in the North West of England.
At the end of the 19th century, the young pharmacist of the Lofthouse family decided to exploit the potential of eucalyptus and menthol candies, created in 1865 by the Fleetwood pharmacist, James Lofthouse, who came up with the idea after meeting three fishermen with their throats on fire because of the many hours spent at sea. Before those, syrups had been tested, then transformed into the most well-known and practical candies, to be held in the palm of one hand: the Fisherman’s Friend.
Originally married to Alan Lofthouse – a descendant of company founder James Lofthouse -, Doreen remarried after the divorce to Tony Lofthouse, son of her ex-husband’s brother, 14 years her junior and active in the company. The woman was able in a short time to transform the small project into a global business, reaching five billion packages of Fisherman’s Friends sold every year in more than 100 countries.
Disappeared at the age of 91, the woman, now head of the company, decided to leave part of her fortune, 41 million and 400 thousand pounds, to the Lofthouse Foundation, a charity created in 1994, which aims to develop its own Fleetwood, a village of 20,000 inhabitants overlooking the Irish Sea. An “incredible sum from an incredible woman,” commented a member of the city council. Over the years Lofthouse had donated several million pounds to local charities, from upgrading the town hospital to installing a statue on the town’s main street, earning herself the nickname ‘Fleetwood’s mother’.
The woman had been a widow for years now. The rest of his possessions, around 325,000 pounds, were divided between servants, secretaries and gardeners. No cash was given to his son Duncan, to whom the management of the family business was left. The jewels, on the other hand, went to the man’s wife.