Once described by a competitor as being to fruit and vegetables what Larry Goodman is to meat, Fyffes chairman Mr Neil McCann has been in the business for more than 50 years.
He joined the family fruit firm in Dundalk in 1948, leading it through a stock market flotation in 1981 and on to its current position as the largest fresh produce group in Europe.
Now nearing his 80s, he stepped down from the day-to-day running of the company in 1995, leaving it to his two sons, David and Carl, but remaining as chairman.
Once described by an observer as "about as straight a businessman as you can find", the Co Louth man also has a reputation for a lack of pomposity. His relationship with Mr Flavin goes back a long way.
The DCC chief was a key player in bringing Fyffes to the stock market more than 20 years ago.
He was also an important figure in Fyffes' decision to purchase a 20 per cent stake in Irish Distillers, a shareholding which was to prove pivotal in the 1988 takeover war between Pernod and Grand Metropolitan.
Mr McCann was eventually to make a £26 million profit from the sale of the stake to Pernod.
