The news of the death of local networking legend Jonathan Rose was released in a statement today on the Carrington Club website by Malcolm Scott Walby.
Dear Friends and Fellow Carrington Members and Supporters,
It is with enormous sadness that I have to inform you that Jonathan Rose died at home on 8th September.
The World is an infinitely poorer place without this larger than life character.
Jonathan had a very vivid life, never taken at slow pace or in short measures. However, he was also very kind, thoughtful and extremely generous with his words, time and hospitality.
He adored his two daughters, Jessamie and Justine and our thoughts are with them, Jonathan’s mother and his family.
Jonathan grew up near Sturminster Newton and was a member of the Dorset Society of Men and I think his most happy moments were spent in greenest parts of the County as well as in the company of his family and friends.
He took enormous pleasure in talking about Dorset, particularly stories about his old school days and his family. They were great stories and we really became close due to this love of Dorset.
I remain someone very proud to call Jonathan a friend and I will always remember him with a warm glow in my heart and a smile across my Dorset face.With the support of Lynne, we hope to carry on with the Carrington Club and the meeting on 22 September, not least as a tribute to Jonathan. Any questions should be directed first to Lynne, admin@carrington-club.co.uk
Kindest regards
Malcolm Scott Walby
It is understood that Jonathan missed yesterday’s Carrington Club breakfast and members were concerned as he’d not been in touch to excuse his absence.
Tributes began to appear on Facebook today from many of the Carrington members and people who admired Jonathan.
Seeker’s MD Steve Cook said “Jonathan was a larger than life character and a definite one-off. Underneath his no-nonsense exterior that always reminded me of a Sergeant-Major was a man who was always loyal to his friends and dedicated to his work. He will be greatly missed.”
“Been feeling sad most of the day since hearing about the sudden death of Jonathan Rose. He was a colleague, a client and a friend at different points over the last 6 years and he will be sadly missed but fondly remembered. I often say to people that, in business, when I grow up, want to be Jonathan Rose. If I’m half as cool and inspirational to others as he was, I’ll have lived the best of lives, as he did. Farewell friend;)” – Neil Armstrong of Cre8ive Wisdom on his Facebook page.
Matthew Murray of Vouchers 4 said “He always made me laugh, and always encouraged me to be better, stronger and believe in myself. He also made me want to dress smarter. He had great style. Miss you buddy.”
Nigel Leonard of VS Club first met Jonathan at school in the 60s and had this to say:
“Many will probably know that I was in the same form as Jonathan at Blundell’s between 1962 and 1965 though he was known as Jack or Jacko then by all his schoolmates! He was a superb sportsman with full colours in both cricket and rugby though I suspect that went by the wayside as his rather hard living lifestyle in the States progressed! The day before he was due to leave school, the den he and various friends had dug under three of their studies where we all used to drink and smoke during the early hours was discovered and he was unceremoniously dismissed and banned from joining the Old Boy’s Club!!
I even had the pleasure of playing at his 21st birthday in the school rock band at his parent’s house in Kings Stag near Sturminster Newton – the main band was The Mojos if anyone remembers them. We lost contact in the early 70’s and when I eventually met up with Jonathan again in November 2009 thanks to Malcolm Scott-Walby, I said that I couldn’t remember when we last met. Jonathan’s immediate answer was ‘Chelsea Kitchen, Kings Road, Chelsea in October 1972’! Over the last couple of years we shared many fond memories of the old days and I send my heartfelt condolences to Jessamie and Justine for the loss of their dear Dad.”
“Totally disbelieving JR’s gone..leaving a massive hole in the Bournemouth & Poole business community.” – Andrew Garaway.
But Richard Mack of RT Promotions summed Jonathan up succinctly – “A chum, a mentor, a leader.”
Bournemouth’s business community will miss JR and he will leave a hole that will be hard to fill.
Please feel free to leave your comments or tributes in the comments below.
Words & Photos by Steve Cook, Seeker
by admin
4 comments
Tony Carter - Why is it we always wait until it is too late before we tell people how much they mean to us?
I learned a lot from Jonathan; I did some good business with him and had some good laughs at the world with him. I counted him as a friend and mentor in business.
Whenever you hear the name Jonathan Rose in a conversation it is almost always followed by a comment such as “What a nice bloke” sums it all up really, Jonathan Rose a thoroughly nice bloke. I will miss him greatly.
Michael Dodds - Jonathan I had been good friends since the early nineties, almost 20 years ago. Almost immediately, Jonathan became one of the eight or nine founding members of the Ft. Lauderdale Chapter of the British American Chamber of Commerce here in Florida. Jonathan showed such honesty and integrity that he was able to recruit many new members as well as helping and advising them in much the same way as he did later for the Carrington Club.
Fifteen years ago he joined one of my companies, PharmaChemUSA and helped develop it during the existing 40 year US Cuba Embargo, to become the first licensed US company to do business in Cuba. He did this by having our Havana office collect prescriptions from doctors all over Cuba and by making sure they had the name and telephone number of the patients Miami relative or friend on it, so we could get them to pay for the drugs, we then flew the prescriptions back to Cuba every week with our own plane. This went on until President George Bush got into power and almost immediately cancelled our licences to do business with Cuba that President Clinton had graciously issued to us previously. Almost immediately Jonathan started suffering from throat cancer and I got him back to England where he spent 3 years in and out of hospital but on more than one occasion he was on the brink of dying.
In 2004 it appeared he had survived and charged his batteries up to an unbelievable level and after I persuaded him that he had the unique ability to be a fantastic business promoter on a networking basis he put a program together that eventually led to the establishment of the Carrington Club in Bournemouth. So successful was that club, and following comments from the BBC Financial News commentators that he ran one of the best networking clubs in the UK, he started London City and while he was looking at doing the same in Birmingham and Dublin, he had also been working on establishing a program that would have started business networks in Geneva and Dubai, within the next two years.
Not only was Jonathan an incredible character but he had a personality like a high speed dynamo that was so encouraging and so positive that many many people found it helped them generate new business they would never otherwise have achieved. It is very sad that we never considered that he was burning up his life faster than any of us and that there was every chance that he would burn out much sooner than we expected.
Jonathan and I discussed every week how the business networks could be expanded and now his passing has has created a huge hole in my world that will never be filled. He will always be with us in spirit. Thank you Jonathan for all you did for us while you were part of our lives.
admin - Thank you for those words Michael, Jonathan was indeed a dynamo and it’s fascinating to read of your enterprise in Cuba – great lateral thinking to get around a problem.
Dawn Maughan - Jonathan was loved by so many people, his boundless energy and kindness. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.