John Rome 1949-2021

vertikal editor
Emailed Comment

I first met John in the late 1970’s. He was a young fresh faced crane salesman and we instantly hit it off. John was working for Fords at Halewood as a tool maker, and he saw an advert for a sales role with Cole’s Cranes.

Before his interview, in true John style, he swatted up on anything to do with cranes and, with his technical background, he landed his first sales role ! He was interviewed by a Cole’s veteran named Ted Tart who was obviously impressed with John’s ability to quickly learn sufficient knowledge to go out and sell cranes.

We had only recently started Ainscough Crane Hire and John was already selling cranes to our cousin Sam Ainscough. Another customer of John’s was Fox Brothers in Blackpool where he met George Davis who also became a good friend.

Unfortunately for John’s wife, the combination of Sam, George and myself as customers were a bad example as we encouraged John to spend more time in the local pubs than was good for him!! We spent many happy hours together and this is when we became firm friends.
Fortunately in the early 80,s we all grew up and started to take our family responsibility much more seriously,

Around this time Cole’s Cranes were taken over by American manufacturer Grove. John flourished with this forward thinking company, and he established himself as the Northwest’s premier salesman .

We spent many happy times at the annual Haydock Plant Show, and we even went as far afield to Crane shows in Sweden, Germany and the USA.
In the late 80’s John was recruited by Kato of Japan to take on a National UK sales role rather than just a regional one. I think it’s fair to say that during the late 80’s and 90’s John was selling more Cranes than anyone else in the industry.

Ainscough Crane Hire was growing rapidly at this time and in one year alone John sold us over 100 new machines. I think that must be a record for any salesman in the UK.

Around the turn of the Millennium John decided to become self-employed and started to sell cranes on behalf of Spierings and also used cranes on our behalf. Working alongside my brother James, John became very much part of our team for over 20 years. We spent time with him almost every working day and he even ended up with his own office on the director’s floor of the building !

Above all John was a family man and someone who liked an organised life and achieved so much in his chosen career. He leaves behind his beloved wife Jan, his two fine sons Dan and Craig, daughter in law Rachael and two granddaughters Abigail and Holly.John got his son Dan a start in the workshops of Ainscough Crane Hire, and he also became a great asset to the Company.

John was a good friend to me and to many others in the industry. I know he will be sadly missed by his family and also by his many friends around the world in the crane industry.

God Bless you, John!

Martin Ainscough

Peter Burwell
A very sad day indeed for the crane industry. I'm proud to have known and worked with John professionally and socially for many years. He was a great guy who loved doing what he did best - selling cranes! RIP John.

David Slack
Very sad news. I found John to be a true gentleman and enjoyed fantastic trips to Japan and Sweden with him. RIP John.

Barecat
Very sad news. Remember him very well and we had lots of fun together. RIP John !

b
Very sorry to see John go like this. We were competitors always but we rubbed along very well. It was always nice speaking with you and you will be missed in the Crane Business. Thoughts for your family.

Peckers50
This is such sad news .
John worked alongside me on the Bocker product at Kranlyft UK and was a true gentleman.
I lost contact with him over the past couple of years so this news is such a shock.
My deepest condolences go out to his family, RIP John.

TigerT
I only met John a few times and found him most helpful. RIP John