Goodbye to John Dean

It is with great sadness that we say farewell to John Dean. As a founder of Dean and Reddyhoff (who merged with Quay Marinas in 2019 to form boatfolk) John Dean has had an incredible impact on our people, our history and our industry as a whole.

Here is what Richard Reddyhoff, who worked alongside him for many years, had to say. 

It is with sadness that we learned of John’s death last week and we are still trying to digest the news. He was one of those people who was always there - well sometimes you would wish he would go away…

A passionate sailor, progressing from Merlin Rockets to his beloved Swan yachts, he would have us report at the end of a busy week to bash our way across the Channel in the middle of the night to take part in RORC races. We came second in class in a Round the Island Race, and he took part in a number of long distance two-handed races, the first (Plymouth to Newport RI in ‘Poppy’) pictured here. I was terrified at the start, and I suspect he was too. A bullet-proof skipper, he radiated confidence, even in the seas of the 1979 Fastnet Race.

A civil engineer, his company Dean and Dyball carried out many jobs for Public Authorities, and quite often when he would meet someone he would reflect ‘oh yes, we laid sewers in your area’. The company leaned towards marine works (dredging, jetties, quay walls) and this led to innovative schemes, the first being Shamrock Quay in Southampton. Here, a shipyard was redeveloped with marina pontoons, and all the little workshops were let out to individual companies with a couple of boutique shops, a pub, a café and a restaurant. I remember a visit from the Director of Planning in Southampton who came to see what was going on, his parting request ‘can you just let us know what you are planning in future, it’s the way it’s normally done’.

A number of other schemes followed both in the Solent and in the West Country (Ocean Village, Queen Anne’s Battery etc), but to me the one that stands head and shoulders above all others is Hythe Marina Village. A 50 acre site (well 40 acres that seemed to grow to 50) of sticky mud that would claim anything from your wellies to a large digger – an army wrecker truck salvaged the digger, but the wellies are probably still there. A wonderful blend of engineering and design, it’s now managed by MDL with the 225 residents taking great pride in the site, all integrated with a marina, pub and some shops. Typical of John, he was keen to set up a Frink sculpture in the village centre, but even though he met Elizabeth Frink to progress this there wasn’t time as the company was then sold.

Following the sale, he and I formed Dean and Reddyhoff, and our first development was Haslar Marina in Portsmouth Harbour. In October 1992 we signed a lease with the Crown Estate for the land/ sea bed and by the following May we had 150 berths in and occupied; by Spring the year after we had all 600 berths in, a large wavescreen structure and the Lightship which was converted to house a club bar with showers and toilets. OK it was all a bit muddy and we proudly worked from second (third?) hand portakabins, but over the years we’ve spruced it up quite a bit. East Cowes Marina and Weymouth Marina followed, with the last one being Portland Marina, built for the 2012 Olympics. Widely acclaimed as being ‘pretty flipping good’ this is one we are particularly proud of. These marinas were the first four of what is now ‘boatfolk marina group’.

Alongside all this, John was a committed family man, and built a number of homes for his family which were adventurous and quirky. He was not always easy, but commanded great respect from all, from professional people to the boys laying kerbs. He touched many peoples’ lives and was even summoned to number 10 to meet Maggie T because of his achievements. He will be remembered with great fondness. Thank you John.

Images from Left-Right.
1. 1982 Race Start
2. John Dean with the first berth holder at Haslar Marina
3. Hythe Marina Village
4. Haslar Marina Lightship
5. Portland Marina