Roger McKechnie, the entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Phileas Fogg brand of spicy snacks in the 1980s, has died at the age of 84. McKechnie’s business ventures and philanthropic efforts left a lasting impact on the UK food industry and the arts.

Born on May 24, 1941, in Darlington, McKechnie was the son of a bank manager, Harry McKechnie, and Freda Taylor. He studied economics at Newcastle University before entering the marketing world with Proctor & Gamble. He later worked at Tudor Crisps in Sunderland but chose to remain in the North East and pursue entrepreneurship.

In 1982, McKechnie co-founded Derwent Valley Foods in Consett, Co Durham, an area recovering from the recent closure of local steelworks that had resulted in thousands of job losses. The company developed the Phileas Fogg brand, named after Jules Verne’s fictional adventurer, producing a range of strongly flavored snacks targeted at adult consumers. Their initial success came with tortilla chips, a relatively novel product in the UK at the time, followed by bestsellers such as Punjab Puri and Mignon Morceaux.

Phileas Fogg gained further attention in 1988 with a distinctive television advertising campaign featuring surreal and humorous storylines inspired by Monty Python-style humor. By the early 1990s, the company had grown to employ around 300 people in Consett. In 1993, the partners sold Derwent Valley Foods to United Biscuits for £2.4 million, securing McKechnie a multimillion-pound return on his initial stake. Despite United Biscuits’ larger distribution network, the Phileas Fogg brand eventually declined in prominence.

Following the sale, McKechnie pursued various other business ventures. Notably, he converted Dove Nest, an 18th-century mansion near Lake Windermere, into The Samling, a luxury boutique hotel that attracted a number of high-profile guests, including actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

McKechnie also experienced setbacks, describing his failed attempt to supply humanitarian equipment to aid agencies in Africa as his “greatest mistake.” He attributed the failure to a lack of market understanding and excessive emotional investment. However, he found success with Tanfield Foods, which supplied gourmet ready meals under the “Look What We Found” brand to premium retailers and airlines.

In addition to his business activities, McKechnie founded the Samling Foundation in 1996, now known as the Samling Institute for Young Artists, based in Hexham, Northumberland. The foundation provides residencies and training for emerging singers, musicians, and actors, supporting talent development in the North East of England. His co-founder, Karon Wright, described him as “wacky, challenging in all the best ways, kind, generous, clever and a whole lot of fun.”

McKechnie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1989. He married Dr. Eileen O’Hagan in 1966, with whom he had six biological children and adopted three others. One of their daughters predeceased them.

Roger McKechnie died on April 24, 2026, leaving behind a legacy of innovation in the food industry and significant contributions to arts education.