Dame Julie Kenny DBE DL, Yorkshire businesswomen and the founder of Pyronix, manufacturer of intruder alarm panels, has died. She was 67.
A mother of three, grandmother of eight, wife to Iain and step-mother to his three children, she died after a short illness on Friday, February 21, at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Sheffield-born, she leaves a legacy in South Yorkshire and particularly in Rotherham, the town she always said had forged her. There in 1986 she founded Pyronix, which she grew into an award-winning business that was acquired by the global video surveillance product firm Hikvision.
She was a government-appointed commissioner to Rotherham Borough Council from 2015 to 2018 after the town was rocked by a child sexual exploitation scandal, and was made a Freewoman of Rotherham in 2020. She worked to rescue Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham’s Grade I Listed building, which she described as ‘one of the most inspiring, yet hardest, challenges of my life.”
She said: “When I first saw the house I could not believe we had something so beautiful. I believed it was a beacon, one we could make a destination for people from around the world, and how proud that would make Rotherham feel. Many people told me it was impossible. But my view is that nothing is impossible with time, energy and belief.”
She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2019 in recognition of her five-year campaign with SAVE Britain’s Heritage to buy the house in 2017 and her leadership of Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust.
Tim Cooke, Deputy Chairman of the Trust, said: “Dame Julie Kenny and Wentworth Woodhouse became synonymous with one another. Her personal impact on the house has been enormous. Julie chaired the board of trustees and committed her time and numerous talents on a daily basis. It would be nowhere near its current status without her.
“Everyone involved – employees, volunteers, trustees and patrons – will feel her loss very keenly. Our best way of remembering Julie is to continue our work on the house that she loved so much, and which is a monument to her remarkable personality and capabilities.”
Dame Julie often said that surviving a difficult childhood gave her the motivation to succeed. She grew up in an impoverished, chaotic household in Hillsborough and Stannington, Sheffield. By the age of ten she was caring for her baby brother and responsible for cooking and cleaning, but always prioritising homework and school.
She left at 18 to become a legal secretary in Cornwall. She was swiftly offered legal training and went on to a career as a litigation lawyer. She launched Pyronix with her first husband; their marriage ended and Dame Julie continued to lead the growing business as a single mother of three, supported by two nannies working around the clock.
She flew to all corners, winning trade in 65 countries. When she sold Pyronix in 2016, a move she saw as crucial to growth and job security, turnover was £25m.
Rotherham’s Labour MP and now Defence Secretary John Healey, who had known and worked closely with Dame Julie for nearly 30 years, said: “Julie was a truly remarkable woman who was proud of her roots and wanted to make life better for others. I first met her when I visited her Pyronix factory. She knew all her staff and they adored her.
“Over three decades, Julie took on a list of public life roles as long as your arm – at local, regional and national levels. She took on challenges others would shy away from, with a commitment that was always total.
“She became President of the Rotherham Chamber of Commerce to rescue it from the brink of bankruptcy and rebuild it into one of the country’s leading chambers. She became Trust director of Doncaster Children’s Services when the Government took it out of the council’s hands and in 2010 became Chair of Yorkshire Forward to wind it up after a change in government.
“She brought brilliant business insight, plain common sense and a warm personal touch to every organisation, and she inspired those she worked with to achieve more. Julie’s sudden untimely death leaves a massive gap in the lives of so many of us who knew her and public life is now so much poorer without her.”
A private family funeral will be held.
She was awarded a CBE for her services to industry in Yorkshire and Humberside in 2002; became a Deputy Lieutenant from 2005; and High Sheriff of South Yorkshire in 2012-13. She became the first female chair of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) in 2010. In 2022 she became chair of RISC, Security and Resilience Industry Supplies Community; and among many positions outside private security, whether in the voluntary and charity sector, or appointed by government; in 2023, Commissioner, Historic England.
