Year started in BMX?
1979/80
How did you discover BMX, were you already in the bicycle industry?
I worked for Malcom Jarvis at Ammaco selling some of the first Mongoose bikes he brought in from the States. I worked with Joe Cerelo along with Don Smith who came from motorcycle trials and had a good network of motorcycle shops we could utilize.
You were the team manager for Diamond Back, what year? Team riders?
Yes, after Ammaco I went to Freewheeler who brought in Pro-Star and Diamond Back. I was selling bikes and ran the Diamond Back team which consisted of Chris Simmonds, Jason Maloney, Louis Mears and Mark White. We also got to meet and travel with Harry Leary when he came over, visiting bike shops all over the country promoting the brand.
Did you see the spike when BMX really started to boom? How healthy was the industry in the UK at the time?
Once Harry came over things went ballistic for Diamond Back, it really translated into us selling a lot of bikes. I think all the main brands in the industry were doing good once the sport started to boom during the first part of the 80s.
You were one the the early Brits in the industry to make the trip to California. What do you remember from that trip?
Harry returned the favor and invited me over to the US. I went to Pittsburg, Florida and then over to California, met the owner of Aero, Carston Berg who was sponsoring the UK Diamond Back team at the time.
What was your involvement with Aero? It seemed like it was so popular in the UK.
After meeting Carston, Peter Collins and I decided to set up and distribute Aero back in the UK. After having good relationships and contacts already in place, we really got to build the brand up sponsoring the likes of Steve Gratton, Tim March, the Diamond Back and Raleigh just to name a few.
You exited the sport by the mid 80s what did you do after?
I had some great days in BMX, met so many great people. I was good friends with Richard Barrington from ACE, Geoff Barraclough from GT, Craig Schofield and the Raleigh guys among so many.
After I left the BMX Industry mid 80s, I was in the car business and these days I do firm extra work. I still like to check in on social media and the internet to see what’s going with BMX these days. It seems like BMX is in a good place in the UK, which is great.