The electrical industry has lost one of its most loved and respected ladies. Chris Reddington, wife of Big Red Sales founder, John Reddington, has died aged 70. She had fought nearly a four-year battle with cancer.
Although well known as John’s wife, Chris also forged her own very successful career in the consumer electronics industry – starting in 1982 when she opened her own retail store.
Once the couple’s two children, Brian and Sarah, were at school Chris saw a gap in the market in her local area for hi-fi products and she opened an electrical shop in Basingstoke with a friend and neighbour. The shop did extremely well and was sold after eight years.
Chris’s next job was with Thorn (Rumbelows/Radio Rentals) in Theale as an Assistant Buyer. Quickly recognising her talent her bosses soon promoted her to Buyer and then Senior Buyer and she with was the company for more than 10 years. When Thorn closed Chris worked with John at Alphason for over 10 years and managed some of the major accounts including John Lewis and Euronics.
When John started Big Red Sales Ltd in 2010 to provide an independent sales force for the industry, Chris undertook the role of managing the accounts office.
Chris was diagnosed with late stages of colon cancer in April 2020. Due to Covid restrictions she, like many people, was worried about visiting the hospital for scans. However, her local doctor, realising there might be a problem, insisted she be admitted for exploratory scans. As a result of this quick diagnosis Chris was whisked into hospital to remove a growth, following which she underwent a series of successful chemotherapy treatments.
Three years of treatment followed where she went from strength to strength, continuing to work, and enjoy many lovely cruise holidays with John and their family. The pair had just recently returned from a cruise around Italy and Croatia with the entire family including their three grandchildren.
During Chris’s illness John has worked very closely with the NHS to raise money to improve staff conditions at the local hospital where Chris undertook most of her treatment. To date he has raised more than £28,000.
If you would like to contribute to this fund and help John reach his target figure of £85,000 for the NHS, please contact him by email at JohnBReddington@vqmail.co.uk
