Tributes have been paid to former Helical chief executive and chairman Mike Slade OBE who has died aged 80.
Slade led the company for 35 years, including more than three decades as chief executive followed by three years as chairman, before he retired from the board in 2019.
His association with Helical began in 1984, when he reversed his private property business into Helical Bar, then a quoted company whose principal activity was the manufacture of steel reinforcement for the construction industry, and led its transformation into a major real estate developer.
Slade helped to grow LandAid as the principal charitable cause of the UK property industry, raising circa £20m during his tenure as president, and he also chaired the appeal to build the Oak Cancer Centre at The Royal Marsden in Sutton, which opened in 2023 following a £70m fundraising campaign.
Robert Fowlds, chairman of Helical, said: “Mike was a titan of the property industry, whose energy and entrepreneurial spirit helped create the business that Helical is today. This was matched by his enthusiasm and generosity, which made an indelible mark on the people he worked with and the numerous charitable causes he championed. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”
Matthew Bonning-Snook, chief executive of Helical, added: “Mike was a truly inspiring leader and a force of nature. I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent almost a quarter of a century working alongside him in what felt like an endless adventure. His infectious personality, humour and boundless energy created a culture at Helical that everyone wanted to be a part of. He was quite simply one of the most respected and loved people in the industry and he will be greatly missed by everyone that had the privilege of knowing him.”
