Barry Dodd

Barry John Dodd (2 October 1947 – 30 May 2018 ) was an entrepreneur who ran a graphics company, GSM Group. He was appointed as the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire in September 2014. Dodd was killed in a helicopter crash in North Yorkshire in May 2018.

Life Dodd was born in Salford, but raised in Canada and in Chicago where his mother worked as a court reporter and then in real estate.

He formed GSM with a colleague from his days at ICI in 1974. The company specialises in labels and barcoding equipment, sheet metal assemblies and automotive components. Through many acquisitions, the company employed over 400 people at nine sites across the United Kingdom by the time of Dodd's death.

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list of 2006. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2014 for services to the United Kingdom economy and was made an Officer of the Order of St John in February 2018.

David Cameron wrote to Dodd in 2014 asking if he would like to be nominated to be Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire. Dodd accepted and was elevated to the role in September of the same year taking over from Lord Crathorne.

He also served as chair of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding local enterprise partnership; as Pro-Chancellor of the University of Hull; and chair of the joint Hull York Medical School.

Personal life

Dodd met his wife, Frances McTigue, at a party in 1970, but they did not marry until 1978. Dodd and his wife, Frances, lived in Carlton-in-Cleveland a village in North Yorkshire Dodd was the only person on board.