One of Scotland’s foremost farming entrepreneurs has died at home, aged 90, while out checking his cows at Easter Happrew farm.

He liked to describe himself as a diversified hill sheep farmer and was definitely one of Scotland’s most successful businessmen.

He built up a multi-million-pound company producing, packing and selling eggs to the major retailers. He was unusual as he always promoted his supermarket customers and argued aggressively that for a farm to be profitable, it had to sell volume and the only customer able to handle volume were the supermarkets. He knew that price was always dictated by supply and demand.

He was one of three brothers born in Greenock and the family originated from Carradale near Campbeltown. Their father Keith Campbell was a butcher who diversified into hill sheep farming.

After leaving school at 15, John and his brother Douglas started herding sheep on Struchamore farm near Strachur. In those days, he was famously known as wee Jock, the shinty player from Cowal.

John and Douglas both with young wives and starting families decided in 1960 to go their separate ways. John and his wife Cathy bought Glenrath Farm in Peeblesshire in 1961 with 90% of the capital borrowed. After just six months in the farm, his then not so friendly bank manager insisted that they sell the best 60 acres on Glenrath and every tree was felled and sold. They were advised they needed a business plan.

John’s wife Cathy who was a poultry farmer’s daughter from Loch Fyne started buying day-old chicks and selling pullets to local farmers throughout the south of Scotland. Then in 1963, they lost half of their chickens when the snowdrifts smothered them as they were outside in coops.

However, rather than give up they decided to expand and built their first environmentally controlled hen house in the summer of 1963. John went on to build more than 100 sheds in his 90 years farming.

The next 10 years saw their business grow and become more prosperous then unexpectedly in the early 70s, the BEMB was disbanded and the guaranteed price farmers received for their eggs was stopped overnight. Pullets became unsellable so you can image the pressure of 25,000 pullets coming into lay and nobody to buy them.

John found and rented two run down abandoned laying farms south of Edinburgh and quickly housed the pullets. He immediately hit the streets of Edinburgh selling eggs to butchers small shops and hotels out the back of his transit van.

In 1976, he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study egg marketing throughout Europe and America. He and Cathy visited many poultry farms and packing stations and this tour inspired him in the way he wanted Glenrath to develop. He built his first packing station in 1977, and gradually after many attempts, he won his first contract with a major retailer.

Since then Glenrath Farms has continued to grow organically. Sir John in his 90th year was still chairman of Glenrath Farms and the business had a turnover of more than £90m. John always acknowledged that a large part of his success was down to his 240 loyal staff.

While the success of poultry farming tended to overshadow other parts of John Campbell’s life, he always took pride in describing himself as a hill shepherd. He was past president of Peebles Show and he always showed a cattle or Blackface sheep. His lifetime ambition was always to win the Blackface sheep section at Peebles and after 56 years of trying, he eventually won the championship with a ewe.

He sold Blackface tups at Lanark market every year for 63 years. In his first year at Glenrath, his tups averaged £18 and went straight from ring 1 to ring 3. He was adamant he would succeed, he kept trying and as time went on, he sold many high priced tups. His highlight was selling a tup for £49,000, at the last tup sale held in the old Lanark market, and having the top average for eight lambs in 2003. Last year, he sold the top priced shearling ram at £90,000 at Dalmally.

Without doubt if asked what his greatest achievement was, he would reply without hesitation buying his 13 farms and being able to farm 15,000 acres. He was particularly proud in 2011 when he managed to buy the 60 acres back that he was made to sell in 1961. He believed there was nothing to beat the stratified sheep system used at Glenrath Farms to stock the other farms whereby Blackface ewes are crossed with a Bluefaced Leicester tup to produce Mule ewes that are then served by Suffolk rams to produce finished lambs and breeding females.

He always made time to help his local community. He was an elder of his local kirk for more than 60 years, and fought aggressively to keep it open when Manor Church was threatened with closure. He was leader of Peebles District Council for nine years and was honoured many times. He was awarded an OBE in 2000 and was Scottish Poultry Man of the Year and then UK Poultry Man of the Year in 2016. He received a lifetime achievement award from the IEC and was a director and twice vice president of the Royal Highland Show and he had the honour of being knighted in 2017.

One of his proudest tasks was planting 14 miles of daffodils along the verges of Glenraths Farms. In many ways, he made his own memorial, which will go on and be enjoyed by many for many years to come.

He was husband to Cathy for 67 years, Dad to Karen, Ian, Keith and Colin. Dada to 11 grandchildren, and great grandad to nine great grandkids.

A Arbuckle