Tributes as respected shoe leather professional loses cancer battle
Industry leaders have paid tribute to Neil Perrin, who has died following a long battle with cancer.
Mr Perrin spent his entire professional life in the leather industry, studying leather manufacturing in Northampton before joining Pittards in 1980. He spent 17 years there before moving to Asia to become director of manufacturing at PrimeAsia, spending a decade at the group.
After a short spell with Shanghai Richina, Neil Perrin joined Ecco and ran the group’s tanneries in Thailand, China and Indonesia. After leaving Ecco at the end of 2016, he joined Swiss-based leather trading company KT Trading. He was based in Hong Kong for the last few years and continued to work in a consultancy capacity.
On learning of Mr Perrin’s death, PrimeAsia chief executive, Jon Clark, said he was fondly remembered as one of the people who had helped create what PrimeAsia is today.
Pittards chief executive, Reg Hankey, said Mr Perrin had been a well respected colleague there who had gone on to have a successful career in the global leather industry.
