Heartfelt tributes have been paid to a great-grandmother whose generosity helped launch a top Welsh food wholesale company after she passed away aged 102.
Dorothy Edwards, affectionately known as “Granny Dot”, played a pivotal role in the creation of Harlech Foodservice after backing her family with a crucial loan more than 50 years ago.
In 1972, Dorothy and her husband Harry loaned £6,000 – the equivalent of £100,000 today – enabling their daughter Gill and son-in-law Colin Foskett to buy a frozen food shop and wholesale business in Harlech.
That bold move laid the foundation for the successful, family run business that now employs 300 staff and supplies pubs, restaurants, schools and hospitals across Wales, the North West, Shropshire and the Midlands.
Harlech Foodservice has enjoyed rapid expansion in recent years and has added new hubs in Carmarthen, Caerphilly and Telford to its long-established centres in Cricieth and Chester.
Paying tribute, her family described Dorothy, who died on March 28, as “one of a kind” who lived a “long and beautiful life” and leaves behind a lasting legacy through both her family and the business which was named UK Food Wholesaler of the Yer in 2025.
With her grandchildren Jonathan, Andrew and Laura in director roles at the company and a third generation also working at the firm, her family said Mrs Edwards was a “truly amazing lady”,
Grandson Andrew, the company’s joint chairman, said: “That loan in 1972 was life-changing.
“It is fair to say without my grandmother, Harlech Foodservice would simply not exist.
“The circumstances were there, the opportunity came along and the rest is history.
“Giving that money was a gamble, but I remember grandad’s comment to my dad Colin, he said ‘if it doesn’t work out, it’s not for the want of trying’.
“So they backed them knowing they would have the ability to make a go of it.
“They could see the business had lots of potential.
“Dorothy and Harry must have raised the £6,000 from money from their family business, Harry Edwards & Sons funeral directors.
“They would visit the business quite often, it wouldn’t be unusual for staff to see them at the business.
“Dorothy would still follow Harlech on their Facebook page in her later years, she took an ongoing interest in it.
“She was over the moon about the success of the business and that the family still owns the business and we still run the business.
“The family-run ethos still runs through the business and now we employ 300 people and have an annual turnover of about £70 million.
“Dorothy and Harry knew the Harlech area because they were one of the first customers in the 1960s of the Islawffordd caravan site at Dyffryn.
“Mum and dad bought the food and retail wholesale business in Harlech from dad’s brother Bob and his wife Beryl.
“Bob and Beryl went on to found Magna Specialist Confectioners, who are based in Stafford Park in Telford.”
According to Andrew, his grandmother was always full of fun and laughter.
He said: “She quite often would tell stories but laugh so much it was difficult for her to complete the story, especially when her daughters were around because they would be laughing so much.
“The stories were often never completed because of the hysterical outbursts.”
Mrs Edwards was born in 1923 in Shrewsbury to William and Priscilla Fenn and the family moved to Wellington in 1931 because of William’s work on the railways.
She went to Constitution Hill School and left school at the age of 14 to work as an assistant at a high class ladies outfitters in Church Street, Wellington.
She met Harry because she was best friends with his sister Phyllis and their first date was at a fairground.
During the Second World War she made Spitfire parts at Joseph Sankey and Sons in Hadley.
Harry served as an Army gunner during the war and was posted to Greece.
Harry and Dorothy got married in 1945 in New Street Methodist Church in Wellington.
Andrew said: “Prior to that, Dorothy had not seen Harry for three years because of the war.
“As Harry was coming back from the war, he sent a telegram asking Dorothy to arrange the wedding for when he got back.
“They had six children, Gillian, Jennifer, Janet, Robert, Elizabeth and Susan.
“Harry worked in the family business, Harry Edwards & Sons funeral directors and joiners, after the war and eventually he bought both his brothers Tom and Frank out of the business in 1979.
“Dorothy worked in the business and she used to help Harry recover people that had passed away any time day or night.
“Harry retired in 1989 and that was when they sold the business.
“They moved to Ringers Way in Admaston and they cared for Dorothy’s mother Priscilla who lived with them before Priscilla passed away in 1993 at the age of 98.
“In 1997 they bought a bungalow in Elmsdale Crescent in Admaston and Harry and Dorothy set about putting their stamp on the place, it needed a bit of work doing to it.
“Harry of course being a joiner set about making it their own home.
“Dorothy was a very good dressmaker and was interested in craftmaking, she used to do dressmaking for other people, even into her later years.
“Harry passed away in 2003 at the age of 82 and Dorothy lived in the house until she was 98.
“Her two daughters Elizabeth and Susan were also living in the village so they were always in and out to look after her.
“Dorothy then moved in with Susan who cared for her until she passed away.”
Dorothy was a grandmother to Jonathan, Andrew, Laura, Joshua and Molly Rose.
She was a great-grandmother to Toby, Hari, Charlie, Ella, Mili, Maisie, Joel, Nancy, Eden and Dorothy.
A celebration of Mrs Edwards’s life takes place on Friday, May 1 at 2.30pm at Telford Crematorium, with all donations to be made to the Midlands Air Ambulance.
