Celebrating the life of Andy Brown

I have read all of these thoughts about Andy and was happy to read the memories. Andy was a client, colleague, boss, and friend to me over many years. He also was engaging as a person. When my oldest son had his first boy they wanted to name him Gunner. Andy was eustatic and immediately sent an Arsenal jersey shirt with the name Gunner on it. Suffice to say the "family" decided that Gunner was not the name to be given. However, "Brodie" wore that shirt proudly and it was passed down to my youngest grand child who wears it today. Andy and I chatted about this not that long ago as he was always interested in hearing family stories. I will miss those chats the most! On to the next stage of life my friend. tk

Andy - always AJ to me - and I first met at Altrincham Boys Grammar School in the mid-1970s. I loved him from that time and to the very last. He was my best friend at school and he remained a best friend through all of our adult lives. We created many memories together, including our incredible six week trip across the US by Greyhound Bus in 1981 - 10,000 miles travelled and 27 states visited! I will miss him immensely. I admired him for more than 50 years but no more so than in these last three, when he showed so much bravery, determination and drive to enjoy the time he had left by packing in more experiences in that time than most people do in an entire lifetime. His celebratory funeral yesterday was full of joyful memories and stories, despite the sadness of losing such a great man well before he should have left us. RIP ‘AJ”, I will love and remember you forever. Howard xx

Reading these comments, and others elsewhere, shows how much Andy was appreciated, loved and respected, and how much he gave to all of us. For my part, he and I were colleagues at BMRB/KMR/Kantar Media for 27 years. That these were productive, happy and successful times - for the business and for those of us who worked in it - had much to do with his sensitive and skilful leadership. But also his friendship. So many of us will have fond memories of fun times shared - for me, TGI client events, or coming up with nominations for ‘alternative awards’ at Readership Symposia and PDRF events come to mind. In recent years, days out watching cricket were a great pleasure. Andy was the best of us. Go well, my friend.

I first met Andy in 2011 after I joined TGI in Ealing when I started to receive several of his emails from haphazard typists unaware that he now had a namesake in the building. Initial confusion over, we worked together regularly to build many of his presentations and speeches – including one in French that proved a valiant effort, although one he swore he’d never do again. I was fortunate that those first few years of ad-hoc projects at TGI turned into a permanent placement leading comms in Andy’s transformation team. Whether during late-night re-writes of his presentations, early breakfast run throughs or long cab rides between offices, I felt deeply honoured to have the privilege of working with Andy up-close, learning more about the industry every day and shaping the way the business would evolve and grow. But what made that time so special was spending time with such a fantastic bloke. Our shared love of sport meant conversations quickly turned to football or cricket - regularly breaking away from meetings in the office to catch-up on the latest England run chase. As the World Cup takes centre stage once again, I particularly remember how excited we both were when England reached semi-finals in 2018 that we built an entire global townhall around the theme of Gareth Southgate’s approach to team building! In recent years it was always a joy to spend time with Andy who remained so courageously active throughout his illness. I fondly look back on an evening at the cricket in Canterbury and a pre-match pint at his favourite North London pub where I had to hide my West Ham colours (and I do remember he correctly called it that the Hammers would win that day – although alas I’ve missed being unable to dissect our relegation and England’s fortunes at the World Cup with him in recent weeks). I feel deeply fortunate to have had Andy as a friend and mentor and owe him a great deal. He cared deeply about the businesses he led and the people he served – and went above and beyond to put others before himself. He has been an inspiration to me and countless others and will be forever missed. Thank you, Andy.