We each have our own memories of Darren, let me share some of mine……. It all started with myself and Ian Gibbon interviewing him in Cheshire, back in 2002. Throughout the interview with Darren, we just bathed in the warmth of his personality - bouncy, charming, tenacious, lively and fearless. He had the ability to light up the entire atmosphere of a venue. Of course we plucked him out of his motorcycle workshop (Warwicks?) and trained him in the art of sales. Darren was like a sponge soaking up this new knowledge which when mixed with his charming personality proved a very successful recipe. In total those sales skills went on to provide him with 20 years of earnings and brought him many achievements and a great sense of pride. Darren was my ‘Banker’ within the sales team seemingly always able to go close one more sale. His success won numerous trips, including Alton Towers and even a trip to the Ducati motorcycle factory in Italy. Over the years our friendship developed and I have shared all of the highs and lows of his life with him. We would talk for hours, sharing both tears and laughter. I know he found those talks beneficial, I sure miss them now. There was more to Darren than just work. At his core was his family, particularly his parents Roy and Annie and of course his children Phoebe, Louis and Dexter. Darren would drag his dad along to motorcycle track days where he would tease him with banter, I remember him relentlessly jibing him about the sport button in his car, saying ‘hit the sport button dad come on’. The motorcyclists sat amongst us will all now be chuckling, recalling similar conversations with him. I remember him comimg off a track day session buzzing saying ‘mate, I wrung it’s neck down the back straight and went around the outside of him in the corner’ – boy that lad could ride a motorcycle. I remember the first time Darren drove over to our house with Phoebe, that evening we sat and watched a father so in love with his daughter, fretting if and what she would eat, was she comfortable, bored etc. On that first visit Phoebe discovered a new dish, fried rice, which she quickly devoured. Darren was amazed that Phoebe had gone off-piste and tried something new and asked my wife Nong to cook some more to take home. I think this was the moment he really engaged with cooking his own food. He left us with many curry pastes and spices that night. Next thing - Saturday morning kitchen style video calls, cooking thai with Darren and his mum. He would often send me pictures of thai food that he had prepared along with a list of the ingredients that he had proudly prepared and added to the dish. He would spend hours shopping, preparing and cooking his food. I think cooking nourished both his body and his soul. Darren was also a top mechanic with a wizard like ability to diagnose and fix an ailing engine. He certainly helped me out on many an occasion with different motorcycle problems. We would spanner away whilst chatting about life, talking about deep topics seemlessly stitched together with ‘pass me the 10mm’ or ‘hold that airbox out of the way while I get these carbs in.’ These engine problems would frustrate me but Darren would never give up – I realise now that he had become my teacher and I the student. I will miss my teacher. Rest in Peace My Friend 1980-2023