The euphoria of meeting up face to face in Prague was tinged with the sad news that industry veteran John Marshall had passed away earlier this year after a short battle with cancer.
With sadness, we report on the passing of John Marshall, the guru of toner gurus. John passed away earlier this year after a short battle with cancer.
“I first met John when he worked at Coates UK toner plant way back when. We had been having a problem with a BX toner (that’s how long ago it was) and he took time out to understand our problem and sort out a solution. That was John, no problem too big or too small. His inquisitive mind, and his desire to help always shone through.” Said David Connett, a Partner at Connett & Unland GbR.
Ian Copsey, a colleague of John’s from their time working for Static Control components, said he was “Incredibly saddened to learn of his passing. We travelled together many times with SCC Colour Club in 2000 – 2006 period & numerous other Customer visits, always a fun guy to travel with.
“One of our most memorable trips was a visit to Ankara, Turkey, when we talked to a “local entrepreneur” who wanted to convert his defunct sugar lump producing factory into a toner remanufacturing facility.
“In or around the grounds of this facility was “according” to John, who was also a keen Botanist, a very rare and unusual tree growing. John found some seed pods, took some back to the UK, and germinated and cultivated one of them. The tree grew, and it’s now planted in his back garden in Norfolk. Whenever I called John, he would always give me a progress report. I think it’s now 25 – 30 ft tall. John’s business life was also the same; he delighted in taking small acorn opportunities and growing them into great business oaks.
“Many of us in the Industry benefited from his vast knowledge and experience of toner; he helped many of us grow.”
John Marshall was a chemist by profession and started his career in the 1980s, first at Coates Toner in their UK toner plant. He plied his trade, developing many aftermarket toner formulations, especially in the rapidly emerging aftermarket, where the demand for laser printer toners was growing by the day.
At Static Control Components (Europe), Marshall was responsible for ensuring quality standards of toners and providing technical support to customers across the western hemisphere, with his last role as General Manager for Static Control Components (Europe) seeing him in charge of the company’s technical operations.
Marshall joined the toner start-up, NAND ipl, as Principal Advisor. His extensive experience and expertise saw him help the company launch its BESTONE second generation chemical colour toners.
Before his passing, Marshall provided consulting services to Integral GmbH, the German toner manufacturer.
