I can't quite believe my friend of almost 30 years is gone!

It was 1994, and after three very lean years after graduating in 3D Product Design I was working in London doing graphic design - not a discipline I was even trained in or particularly enjoyed! One day I spotted an advert in Design Magazine from a guy running a small design consultancy not far from Liverpool Street station. Essentially a 'one-man-band' at the time, I thought I'd give him a call and see if I could at least get a meeting - it was a long shot as competition was intense after the 1990 recession. He replied almost instantly and gave me a small job to modify a boating cleat hook for a cab refurbishment job on a Class 50 locomotive. It was a leap of faith from him!

After toiling away in my flat all evening with hacksaws, files, wet-and-dry paper and metal polish, I returned the following day with the finished item. Tony was thankfully very impressed and decided to give me my first break in design and hired me - I was over-the-moon!

Little did I know at the time but already, Tony had achieved great things in the world of design, I'd landed on my feet big-time! That period at Continuum was superb and helped me enormously as I embarked on my career in design.

Although our paths had diverged by then, from about 2005 onwards Tony started a new venture called TDC which went on to become an enormously successful international design business. Yet again he got me involved with design work from his various projects in the Middle East and beyond. This period of cooperation lasted a further 18 years!

You are gone now Tony, but I just want to say thanks and I'll never forget your kindness, generosity, professional guidance and above all, your friendship. You will be sorely missed.

Best, Rob