Why have there been no more information on this as I worked with Colin for many years ???

Mark Tyrell spoke at Colin's funeral.  This is the text of his remarks:

It was January 1998 when Ken [Oxley] introduced me to the man who could build foreign bureaux. Colin had just finished Brussels.

Up until 1998 the BBC built quite modest foreign bureau, a small radio studio, a few desks and somewhere to edit video for TV.

Little did Colin or I know at the time…. but over the next four years we were to embark on a programme to invest several million pounds in foreign bureau to support live and continuous TV news… a slight concern because both Colin and myself, came from radio backgrounds.

But Colin is not someone to be daunted by something new and by October 1998 the new Washington bureau with its live TV studios was being opened by Kofi Anan, the then UN Sec Gen.

Colin continued to rise to the challenge producing evermore capable bureaux in Beijing, Singapore, Johannesburg, New York and Berlin

Colin was rarely fazed and I learned a lot from him about pragmatism. Colin was an exacting tutor, a commensurate professional, not one for bureaucracy, but a stickler for accuracy.

Colin was a keen negotiator, never afraid to tackle contractors of all shapes and sizes, language not a significant barrier… although one contractor did once remark that it would help if Colin could learn a bit of French !

Colin was always clear about what was needed and on many occasions on how it should be delivered, not necessarily a view held by all the contractors he worked with. But he earned respect and he deserved respect because Colin could deliver and most importantly for the BBC, more or less on budget.  He drove a hard bargain.

Colin was a fun person to be with.  He was a travel buddy someone who had got the work, life and bar balance right. He was never shy of getting a round in, whether that was the Whale Bar in DC, the Miners Bar in Moscow or the Goose in Brussels. Colin was totally reliable and I appreciated his friendship.

Colin was sharp, quick to find solutions to problems like the carefully crafted woodwork that had made its way from Worthing to Singapore and up 12 floors without a scratch only to be 10mm too long to fit the room… or could it be that the wall was in the wrong place ? No it was the woodwork and Colin had the fax to prove it…. As I said a commensurate professional and adept with the circular saw….

December 2001 saw the worst winter for 10 years in Moscow. Temperatures at -35C. Colin had retired but he kept going. He was also undergoing treatment for Leukaemia…… he kept going and he kept going.

Washington again, bigger and better than before, this time with Colin Powell opening it in and there Colin was recognised as one of the Unsung Heroes.

2006 Colin once again…..was in Brussels…. It was the best of the lot and a project that Colin as far as I could tell enjoyed, he was working with M Swaelens a man with whom Colin got on really well - the beer was Belgian  and Colin was also close to home, relatively…. Football and holidays were quite rightly the priority……

For many years to come much of what you see and hear from the BBC and read online will originate from the BBC’s international bureaux, a network that would not have been possible without Colin’s enduring ability, pragmatism and energy.

I for one will miss this friend and Unsung Hero……..

But Colin never fails to surprise……I learned something else about Colin just yesterday, the first record he ever bought was Jailhouse Rock…………