FAMILY, friends and business associates are mourning a well-respected and popular figure in Hampshire business circles.

Dick Oram, 65, who was president of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, died last Thursday after a long illness.

Maureen Frost, deputy chief executive of Hampshire Chamber, said: “We were very saddened to hear of the death of our president Dick Oram.

“Whilst not unexpected, it is nonetheless a major loss to the chamber and the Hampshire business community.”

She added: “Dick was the driving force behind the merger of the three chambers in Hampshire, and also instrumental in putting forward the concept of a Hampshire Business Alliance.

“He was a very well-known figure across Hampshire where he had a leading role in many other organisations including Southern Enterprise and the former Hampshire Economic Partnership.

“He always challenged the norm and his ‘can do’ attitude saw many a difficult project come to fruition.”

In 2011, Mr Oram won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the INSPIRE Business Awards.

The previous year, he had retired as head of the UK, French and European subsidiaries of Japanese electronic component manufacturer MuRata.

Mr Oram was also chairman of the skills and employability group, at Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership.

In addition to this, he was a director of the Southern Enterprise Alliance and chairman of First Partnership which is an educational business partnership.