AN Abergavenny born man who made his name in the food industry en-route to becoming a multimillionaire, has died at the age of 82.

John Spencer Randall was born at Abergavenny on July 16 1929, and was brought up in Cardiff, where his father had been an accountant.

After a secondary modern school education a teenage John developed a fierce ambition to better himself, and following a stint doing his National Service he studied at Cardiff University and obtained a degree in Chemistry followed by a doctorate in Bacteriology.

Randall began as a trainee with Nestlé, where he rose through the ranks to become a technical director before moving to Avana in 1975.

The Cardiff-based supplier of pies was small and unprofitable when Mr Randall took over as chief executive in 1975 and drove the business forward.

Avana's fortunes improved with Mr Randall's eye for business acquisitions and in 1981 he bought Robertsons, the jam maker which had become famous in a different era for its "Golly" brand.

Having built up the company from almost nothing the empire was brought by Rank Hovis McDougall in 1987 in a hostile takeover bid.

Undaunted and at the age of 60 Mr Randall raised some £3 million to buy the then loss-making Kanes Foods and turn them into another highly successful enterprise.

Over the years his determination led him to create the largest privately-owned employer in Worcestershire with a turnover of more than £100 million supplying salad and vegetable products to supermarkets.

John Randall, a father of five, has appeared twice in The Sunday Times rich list and was said to have an estimated fortune of some £45 million in his latest listing in 2009.

At his funeral hundreds of friends and family turned out to honour the charismatic businessman who died of lung cancer at the age of 82.

Roger Beard, financial director at Kanes Foods, said: "Time was important to 'Doc' Randall as he was affectionately known. At Kanes Foods a discussion with the Doc had a rule - Get to the point in 90 seconds."

Mr Randall was a business leader who built strong teams around him to implement his management style, which was said to be abrasive at times.

He despised the gang-master system that he felt was prevalent within parts of the food industry which he described 'as an exploitation of the vulnerable', and insisted that, "Kanes should employ the workforce it needed on proper terms".