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Guy Kewney, one of the finest journalists I have ever had the honour of working with, passed away in the early hours of this morning after a long and brave battle with cancer.

Like so many people, I grew up reading Guy’s articles in magazines like Personal Computing World, Computing and PC Magazine. His work always oozed enthusiasm for good technology, delight at the good decisions of those charged with running the technology companies of the day, along with frustration at bad technology that could and should be better and annoyance at the silly decisions that held back progress. Through it all, Guy had a passion for technology, and for sharing insight, advice and guidance with the rest of us.

Tucked away inside that wise mind was an excited five-year old that wanted to escape and play with as much shiny stuff as possible and then share everything about it with the world (and usually break it – we never figured out how he managed to turn so much stuff into doorstops, but he always found a way). One of Guy’s greatest skills was being able to channel that sense of boyish wonder into clear, concise and informative articles that could appeal to everyone, without losing that sense of excitement and passion.

Over the last 20 years I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Guy in a number of guises. We worked together for many years at VNU - his desk used to be a few feet away from mine - and we would regularly share ideas, information, event invites and even review kit. Before that, Guy was one of the journalists who went out of his way to help me when I was a young and naive freelancer, trying to make some progress in the world of technology journalism.

Guy was one of the first people to offer me a helping hand, looking out for me at events, pointing me in the right direction and making sure I met the right people.

For many years Guy wrote for the publications and sections I’ve edited, such as Data Business, IT PRO, and the technology sections of Computing. As a commissioning editor, working with Guy was always fun, not because copy was late or anything (it never was), rather having conversations with him to flesh out a commission were as much fun as reading the finished article. He would always find a way to make a planned article even better, and his enthusiasm and passion never waned.

Press trips play an integral role in how we work and Guy and I went on more press trips together than either of us could remember. Nonetheless, there are several that will forever stand out.

At CeBIT, he would always keep an eye out for me and would make sure I didn’t get lost in the chaos. There were many trips with Microsoft, including the ‘fishing hats’ trip to Copenhagen for Microsoft’s IT Forum when the anecdotes and stories were flying to-and-fro for the entire trip. Not to mention trips that took us all over America and Europe in search of new technologies and new insights into computing. These were magical times, and sharing them with Guy made them all the more special.

Guy and I were on our last press trip together in Faro, Portugal at the end of 2008. It was a networking industry conference and we were able to enjoy the last of the summer sunshine before winter set in. I will always remember our last day, swapping notes and thoughts as we filed our last pieces of copy before settling down to a much needed beer and a chat as we relaxed before the flight home.

The encouragement and concern he showed for me in my early days remained twenty years later, when it was announced that I was leaving IT PRO. Guy was the first person to call me, not to ask about copy deadlines or his outstanding invoices, he just wanted to make sure I was OK.

It is one of many memories of Guy I will treasure forever.

Guy was a kind, caring and selfless person, and these qualities alone make him irreplaceable.

We miss you Guy. Thank you for everything.

OK, so this is a really optimistic post, as it is not long past midnight.

According to my recent letter from Sky, today is the day it is supposed to enable DSL on my recently restored BT line (having finally moved the phone away from the idiots at Telewest/Virgin Media). To be fair, it is not the end of the wold if it doesn’t happen today, and the letter did want that it may slip by a few days as they are still struggling to keep up with demand. I’m not surprised.

Anyway, if all works out, and the broadband is up to my high standards, I will be pulling the plug on my cable modem service. Keep in mind I was one of the first people in the UK - excluding the People’s Republic of Hull - to have cable broadband, so it will bee the end of an era, and hopefully the start of a better one.

I had planned to write a blog post about motoring this evening, but one with a happier start than this post now has.

As I sat down to start writing the news came through that Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has been involved in a serious car crash while attempting to break a land speed record as part of a Top Gear film shoot.

Information is still sketchy, but it would appear he was either driving or riding shotgun in a jet powered car doing 280 MPH when it flipped over. He’s currently in hospital in Leeds after being airlifted from the scene at a disused RAF airfield just outside York. Here’s hoping Hammond comes through this in one piece – get well soon!

The original point of this post was to talk about car manufacturing in the UK. With the collapse of MG Rover, the closure of Peugeot’s Ryton plant and question marks over the future of Aston Martin, TVR, Caterham, Jaguar, Land Rover, Rolls Royce and Bentley as UK-based car manufacturers, the once proud British car industry is all but finished.

It would appear that only Honda, Nissan and Toyota have kept faith with the UK, with the UK operations of all three standing as examples to the world of how to run a car factory – efficient, profitable, producing world-class cars and home to happy workers (hopefully).

I am pleased to say that we can soon add one more to that list – Nanjing Automotive. This Chinese car maker bought the remains of MG Rover following its collapse – the production lines, the robots, some of the remaining stock, intellectual property to several very good cars and the most valuable thing of all, the MG name and logo.

As far as I am concerned, MG is and has always been among the greatest sports car brands ever created, right up to the end. If we look at the last line of MG cars, we see three excellent cars, and one OK one.

The MG TF is a fantastic two seater, it is fun to drive and as a bloke, you can drive one without having your sexual preferences brought into question. The MG ZR started life as the already good Rover 25, but with redesigned bumpers, interior, and the addition of sports tuned engines and suspension it became the best hot hatch on the market.

The MG ZS was the sporty version of the Rover 45, itself a rework of the Honda Civic. Due to Honda reclaiming the plans and equipment needed to build it, we will not be seeing this one again, which is no massive loss. Both the Rover and MG versions were OK cars, but not life changing.

The MG ZT is a remarkable car. Take a Rover 75, itself an awesome piece of machinery and quite possibly the best car BMW ever bankrolled, retune the already impressive V6 and V8 engines, add sports seats, suspension and other touches and you have a car that not only looks like a retro classic, it can leave most mass-market sports cars for dead.

Now under the ownership of Nanjing, the company is going to use the MG mane and these cards (minus the ZS) as its way into the European and UK car markets.

The first announcement from the company confirmed that the MG TF will be put back into production, only this time built in China using the machinery the company has stripped out of MG Rover’s Longbridge factory and shipped to China. Component kits will then be shipped back to Longbridge where a small team of engineers would assemble the kits for the UK and European markets – with anticipated sales of 20,000 a year. It’s not groundbreaking, but its another car put together by the hand of British man, and I’ll take it.

However, news that is even more fantastic has emerged – the company is going to put the MG ZT back into production, and they will MAKE it at Longbridge, not just assemble it in this country but actually fabricate parts here as well.

This is a major win for the UK, and shows a real vote of confidence in the country and the West Midlands. It also means that a superb car in the form of the ZT/Rover 75 will be back on our roads in increasing numbers within a year.

As someone with a real soft spot for Rover and MG cars, and as someone who only buys cars that are built in this country (Three Rovers, a Peugeot built in Coventry and briefly, a Jag built in Liverpool), it is good to know that in a few years time when I look to replace the 75, there will be decent, well-priced British-built cars on the market, with a respected brand on the bonnet as well.

I recently participated in an article for PR Week about Google and its rather strange attitude and approach to PR, marketing and press relations. Along with my views being quoted, the article also contains a story I recounted about the fun we had trying to photograph Google’s UK headquarters.

You can read the article by clicking on the link below.

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