Andrew Cheale, who has died aged 77, was an Essex lad who left school to farm and become a wholesale butcher and a leading exporter of pork and beef, reports Pig World.

With support of his family, he built the present-day Cheale Meats, which is an essential part of the British pig industry, particularly because of its expertise in the collection, slaughter and export of cull sows.

Pig producers across the country benefit from the hard work and entrepreneurial flair of Andrew Cheale, and his brothers and sister, and now from a second generation of Cheales.

His funeral took place today, 26 June.