Adam moved to Brighton from London, where he’d cut his teeth on weekly papers in Kensington and Fulham, in the late 1960s and after three years with the Brighton and Hove Herald moved to the then named Evening Argus in 1970 where he became Senior Reporter.
I first met him soon after arriving in Brighton in 1982 as although Adam reported on a whole variety of news and lifestyle stories he was particularly interested in issues about local government and transport across Sussex.
He would attend, and report on, all major council meetings as well as on organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce.
No-one could beat his extensive knowledge and full understanding of the issues and he knew all the key personalities involved in Brighton and Hove and everywhere else in Sussex from Chichester to Rye and Horsham to Crowborough.
A non car driver, Adam would cycle extensively as well as taking buses or trains to cover stories all over Sussex. He also enjoyed taking regular dips in the sea and was one of those people who you meet and instantly take a liking too. A good listener and a great sense of humour. He was devoted to the city of Brighton and Hove as well as the wider Sussex landscape.
For many years he wrote a weekly column in the paper and the editor of the day christened him, and the column, the Sage of Sussex. Because he was a ‘sage’ when it came to all things Sussex and was hugely respected for it by readers of the newspaper.
He had extensive knowledge of the bus industry, not just locally in Sussex but all over the country, so when the decision was taken to split the giant Southdown bus company into smaller business units in the mid 1980s in preparation for deregulation and privatisation it was important to ensure Adam understood the rationale behind the move particularly as it would affect Brighton and Hove, the city where he lived and loved.
You couldn’t pull the wool over Adam’s eyes. There was no point in even thinking of trying, as he knew the score. He would immediately see through any PR spin and you had to tell it as it was. If we’d messed up and complaints had come in to the newspaper, it was always best to admit it and explain what we were doing to put things right and make amends.
Whatever the story, you always knew you would get a fair write up from Adam. Criticism if it was justified and supportive commentary when deserved.
It could be said in the days well before social media, Adam was the ultimate influencer. As Senior Reporter he often used to write the daily opinion column in The Argus newspaper called ‘Voice of The Argus’ and his words made a huge impact.
In those days I personally handled all communications with the media and soon developed a close friendship with Adam as I knew he understood all the issues and saw things from a practical and pragmatic point of view. You could give the whole picture to Adam – both official ‘on the record’ and unofficial ‘off the record’ – and you’d know he’d present the story in a fair way. We never issued Press Releases to announce any developments, I’d either meet up with Adam or chat on the phone explaining what was happening and he had this amazing ability to turn my ramblings into a coherent and accurate story that appeared that evening or the next day in the paper.
A good example of such coverage was the radical decision we took in 2000 to introduce a £1 flat fare across the city of Brighton and Hove. This was a huge commercial risk as there was no telling whether short-riders paying 80p and facing a 25% price increase wouldn’t shun the bus and walk, while at the same time there wouldn’t be enough compensating generation from those in the outer residential areas seeing a 30p reduction on the £1.30 fare. We didn’t have the luxury of BSIP funding to underwrite such measures in those days and it could have very quickly all gone horribly wrong.
I explained it all to Adam and he immediately understood the nuances and sure enough the next day the front page and supporting editorial were positive and helped raise awareness of the advantages of having a flat fare, even though for many passengers it meant a price increase.
Over two years later in 2003 when the time came to increase the price by 20%, with £1 having been eroded by inflation, Adam came up trumps again by explaining the rationale in a supportive way.
(Image: Argus)
The front page story that day wasn’t so helpful, but that goes with the territory of media coverage. I always knew sub-editors and headline writers had to sell newspapers, but it was important to get positive coverage from an editorial perspective and Adam was a great help in achieving that.
It was partly through Adam’s extensive knowledge of Sussex, including writing a number of books on the county, that we had the confidence to launch our Bus Names project in 1999. The first batch of 20 Dennis Tridents that year all carried the name of a deceased person on the front who’d made a significant contribution to the area during their lifetime. The idea was an instant hit and over the years led to hundreds of suggestions from members of the public for future names. I used to get more letters (and emails when they became a thing) about this than any other topic or complaint.
Adam’s extensive knowledge of all the suggested names was vital in helping us sift through those that were appropriate and those that weren’t and he kindly wrote a background piece on each person which was included in a book he co-authored with Mike Cheesman that we published as well as his write ups appearing online on the company’s website.
We couldn’t have done the project without Adam and in recognition of his help and the huge role he played in making buses a positive part of the city of Brighton & Hove over so many years, we made a rare exception of naming a bus after him for a short period of time in recognition of his well earned retirement in 2004.
Adam really was the ultimate influencer. He literally helped shape the Brighton & Hove Bus Company in the public’s eyes for over 20 years. On retirement he was made a Freeman of the City of Brighton & Hove by the City Council such was the esteem in which he was rightly held. It was a well deserved honour. Adam was a man of complete integrity, honesty, generosity and kindness. We became great friends and kept in touch and often met up in our retirements. I’ll miss him very much and send my love and best wishes to Sue and the family.
Roger French is a former managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses. Read his blog at busandtrainuser.com
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