A veteran Black Country businessman who pioneered steel stockholding in the UK has died aged 96.

Norman Cashmore ran one of the country’s most advanced steel warehouses, John Cashmore Ltd, based in Walsall.

He was described by son Richard as an “entrepreneur of his generation”. Born in Tipton in 1913, he was educated at Queen Mary’s Grammar School, Sutton Road and joined the family business.

It was founded by his grandfather, who salvaged scrap metal from demolished factories and foundries and ran a site at Great Bridge.

Other family members moved into ship-breaking and set up a subsidiary operation on the river Usk at Newport, South Wales.

Following the Second World War, Mr Cashmore shifted the business towards steel stockholding, specialising in the supply of smaller amounts for firms.

He also installed machines to cut coil strip steel into sheets for manufacturers.

But after capitalising on the post-war increase in the use of aluminium in manufacturing, Mr Cashmore later fell foul of falling prices

He achieved success once again though when he moved into stainless steel was, becoming one of the first in the country to stock the metal.

Floated on the stock market in 1959, his firm was one of the most successful of its kind in the UK by the early 1970s.

It was sold to Glynwed International, the West Midlands-based conglomerate, by shareholders in 1972 and Mr Cashmore served on the Glynwed board before retiring.

He returned to live in the Midlands in 1993 after spending a lengthy period in Swizerland.