David Peart, one of the most popular and entertaining people to have graced the bunker industry, sadly passed away on 8 March after losing a battle with cancer.
He will be fondly remembered, both in his native County Durham in the Northeast of England, where he ran a thriving family energy and bunkering business, and in London, Malta, New Orleans, Singapore and in the many other places he would travel as Honorary Secretary and enthusiastic member of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA).
David joined F. Peart & Co. Ltd in 1962, aged 19, after a brief spell in accountancy. When his father died, he felt he had to join the family business, but according to his son Roger, David hated accountancy so it was probably quite an easy decision. He worked in the fencing side of the business to begin with but then joined his brother Tony on the coal and oil side. The business ceased coal in the mid-1980s to focus on oil.
‘He loved working on the oil side, and when his best friend and brother Tony died in 1988, Dad managed to extract Tony’s son, Freddie, out of the army to join the family business,’ reports Roger. ‘I would say that working with Freddie on the oil side were Dad’s best times from a work perspective, the business thrived, and Dad pursued his love of and passion for the bunker industry during this time.’
David was incredibly proud of his association with IBIA and of being one of the association’s founding members, and will always be remembered for his raucous sense of humour as much as his karaoke singing.
Close personal friend Paul Dyke, General Manager of Oak International Ltd, remembers: ‘David was a good friend, most affable with a wonderful sense of humour. I will always remember the many occasions that we laughed until we cried. A very genuine, kind and honest man who will be sorely missed.’
Nigel Draffin, IBIA founding member and past Chairman, said: ‘I first met David in the early 1990s at industry events, but it was through his time at IBIA that I got to know him well. As the first Hon. Secretary of the association, he kept an eye on the finances and was the driving force behind the first IBIA dinner in 1995 where he also gave the Loyal Toast. He retired from that role in 2001. David was kind, generous and able to lighten the mood in any committee meeting – I will miss him.’
David loved working on the IBIA conferences with Kirsty, his daughter who briefly worked part time in the IBIA Secretariat, and his children now wonder if their love of bunkers is actually because they, as his kids, just wanted to be around him. According to Roger, who started his career at E.A. Gibson (Shipbrokers) and later FAL Energy long before launching his current company: ‘Dad loved that we are now working back in bunkers with Robert Thompson and Propeller Fuels – the fact we are now a global trading business blew his mind.’
All of David’s siblings and parents died young, so he wanted to enjoy some retirement. He always felt that old family members in a business would ‘hold the young back.’ After leaving FAL, Roger joined F. Peart & Co. in the autumn of 1998 and David retired approximately six months later but retained a keen interest in all things ‘Peart Group’ right up until the day he died.
David’s father, Fred Peart, established F. Peart & Co in 1923 – it is the Peart Group Centenary this year – and he was very proud that the business is still thriving, no longer with just an oil businesss in the guise of Your NRG Ltd, but also the company has diversified, with Baltic Apprenticeships, Baltic Recruitment, Peart Access Ramps, Peart Property and other businesses now in its stable.
David was educated at Sedbergh School, which two of his grandchildren also attended. He was appointed Director of F. Peart & Co. in 1965 and Chairman in 1993, and retired to become non-executive Chairman in 1999. Among his other interests, he was a Director of Hartlepool Water Company PLC, Director of Hartlepool’s Advance Building Society, High Sheriff of Cleveland in 1989-1990, President of Durham & Cleveland Squash Rackets Association, Hon. Secretary of Red House School, Norton, a Board Member of Cleveland Community Foundation, Member of the North Cleveland Advisory Committee (Selection of Magistrates).
And he was, according to Roger, ‘a brilliant Dad and Grandfather who would always fill a room with laughter.’
David Peart’s funeral will be held at All Saints Church, Hurworth-on-Tees, County Durham, United Kingdom on 27 March 2023 at 1300hrs. All welcome.
