Portchester firms Castle Heating and Pentland Plumbing merge to keep legacy of deceased plumber alive

Ray Mouland, a long-standing Royal Marines reserve, ran Castle Heating for more than 40 years before he passed away from kidney cancer in 2017 – and now his friend plans to keep his legacy alive.

Keith Hooper will bring the firm into his own business Pentland Plumbing, which he founded in 1998, after the remaining partners of Castle Heating decided to look for a new owner.

Keith said: ‘Ray was a good friend of mine – before he passed away we were skiing and he was trying to get me to buy into his business.’

‘With me knowing Ray so well, I didn’t want it to go to someone else.

‘We wanted to keep his legacy alive.’

Keith added: ‘He will be missed – the priest at his funeral said he had never seen so many people attend a service.’

More than 400 people attended the service for Ray, 68, who was well known as the chairman of the Southern Autosport Association, racing a Vauxhall Magnum across the area.

Ray’s wife Fran paid tribute to her husband’s passion for his trade and his commitment to customers across the community: ‘He had a real passion for his trade – his hands were always dirty.

‘He had passion for fixing anything – and he could do it.

‘And he would never leave anyone. He would always make sure they were okay, and customers appreciated that.

‘He never stopped – he was involved in so many parts of the community.’

Alongside the creation of a Castle Heating Facebook page, a letter has been posted to all Castle Heating customers to explain the merger.

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Taking on Ray’s loyal customers and the easing of lockdown measures has ‘doubled’ the business facing Keith, who has had to take on additional staff to field calls.

He said: ‘We have had to employ a secretary – our first in more than 22 years. We’ve had so many calls.

‘After lockdown started, we had to furlough two members of staff, but now we’re looking to get them back in July.

‘Business has picked up.’

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