Dorothy Rose Obituary, Death Cause – It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you of the passing of Mrs. Dorothy Rose Purdew OBE, who served as both our owner and chairperson.
1932 is the year that Dorothy came into the world in Clapham, London. She used the meager sum of sixty pounds to launch her first company, WeightGuard, in 1970, and eight years later, she established her first health farm, Frimleys. She ultimately proceeded to purchase Henlow Grange alongside her late husband Bob and son Stephen. Over the course of the subsequent years, Dorothy and her son Stephen made the purchase of Springs Hydro,
followed by Forest Mere, and finally Champneys Tring. After that, the Champneys group was established by the Purdew family with all four of their estates included in it. Dorothy and Stephen bought Eastwell Manor in Cheshire a few years ago, and more recently they bought Mottram Hall in the same county. In recent years, the brand has gone from strength to strength. Dorothy was unable to fathom the possibility that a girl who grew up in a working-class family might rise to become one of the most powerful spa operators in the world.
Her life revolved around Champneys spa. She continued to read the feedback left by guests every morning, far into her nineties, since she was anxious to find out how the company could be improved. The value of the Champneys brand has increased to more than £300 million. Dorothy’s sons Stephen and Simon, her grandkids James, Daisy, Robert, Raffaella, and Barnaby, and her great-grandchildren Charlie, Olivia, and Henry are the only members of her family to have survived her passing.
