THE REAL No.7 BARRY SHEENE by those who knew him
ANDREW MARRIOT: Sheene’s marketing and promotions man from 1975 until 1984
“I first got involved with Barry in 1975 because I was one of the founding directors of a sports marketing company called CSS Promotions Ltd. We managed various people including Stirling Moss, Mike Hailwood and James Hunt. James was a great friend of Barry’s. He recommended us and I immediately got on well with Barry, so it all worked out nicely. It was great in 1976 because they were both world champions that year. We managed to do deals with Texaco and other companies for them both. We were responsible for most of the sponsors on Barry’s bike and we sorted the Akai deal out when he moved to Yamaha in 1980 too. We also did the Faberge deal, which was obviously famous for the Brut 33 television adverts Barry did with Henry Cooper. Barry always managed the sporting side of things, so we didn’t get involved in his contracts with Suzuki or any of that side. He did that himself because he was a bloody good negotiator.
“From a marketing point of view, Barry was a dream to work with. He didn’t need any assistance with that at all. Even when we first started with him, he knew everybody – all the Fleet Street boys, the editors of the motorcycling publications, and the likes of Peter Jay, who was top photographer. Barry was on first-name terms with him, which at one time where we had to do road tests on cars. Barry would drive the car around the block, say a few words, and then leave it to me to sort out!
