Monday, July 24th, 2023

Norman Mackel, 1934 to 2023

It is with great sadness we report that our Hon President, Norman Mackel, died on Sunday, 16th July 2023, two days prior to his 90th birthday, and we send our sincerest condolences to his wife, Marilyn and his family.

Norman was ESBA Hon Treasurer, from 2001 to 2016 and oversaw the finances during the formative years of ESBA following its establishment in November 1998. He represented ESBA on the EU High Level Group on Better Regulation in 2014/15 alongside Gabriel Goucha.

Norman had been active in the Wessex Region (South of England) of the Federation of Small Business, as National Councillor at the end of the 1990s and was Chairman of the FSB’s Education & Training Policy Unit in the early 2000s.

Originally from the North East of England, Norman brought a wealth of experience of large manufacturing businesses with him when he became self-employed in the 1990s.

David Caro. ESBA President, said

‘Norman was a huge source of knowledge that helped me greatly when I first joined ESBA, and he continued to support me as a friend, volunteer and organiser, until he retired from his ESBA work in 2016. He is greatly missed by all who worked with him.

Norman attended ESBA’s 20th Anniversary event in 2018 and it is particularly sad that he will miss our 25th Anniversary in the autumn.

The ESBA Board honoured Norman for his service to our organisation by bestowing him as an Hon. Presidents on his retirement, after 15 years, as Hon Treasurer, in 2016.’

John Walker, Hon Treasurer, said

‘ I first met Norman in1996 in the UK Federation of Small Businesses. When I became Policy Chairman in 2001, I was extremely grateful to Norman for taking on key roles, in a volunteer capacity, in Policy, by leading on Education & Training and overseeing Policy’s budgets.

On Norman’s retirement as Hon Treasurer of ESBA in 2016, I succeeded him and met him for lunch periodically with the last occasion being in January 2020. Sadly, Covid lockdowns prevented further meet ups. Norman. you will be missed’