As is evidenced by the comments already expressed by many when hearing of Richard’s premature passing, it is hard to imagine that anyone who came into contact with him – both briefly and over a long period – could have found him anything but one of the nicest people you can meet – I certainly found him to be so. I had an extra special reason for appreciating Richard as not only a friend, but also a work colleague without whom my business, Marketbase, would not have succeeded as well, and lasted as long, as it did. Richard was essential to the development of the software that became the backbone of the business. He had a unique talent as the primary developer of our end user systems which enabled us to become, (and maintain our position over more than 20 years as) a key supplier to many blue chip global businesses, despite our small business size and competition from the world’s largest software companies. As I told Janet recently, I could always rely on him to develop innovative and reliable solutions to suit the needs of the business and its customers in record time and on budget. I admit to stretching Richard’s patience from time to time with ideas and requests for solutions that put possibly unreasonable demands on his available time and knowledge – but he never let me down, and we never had an argument over the 20 years plus that we worked with each other. Anyone who did not know much about Richard’s work can take it from me – alongside being one of the nicest, most reliable, people I have ever known, he was a talented man. I am forever grateful to have known him and I will never forget him. My heart goes out to the family on losing him long before his time. Nicola and William can be immensely proud of their father, just as I know he was proud of them.