Tributes to former Post & Mail journalist
A ‘LEGENDARY’ Midlands industrial correspondent, renowned for his knowledge of the automotive sector, has died at the age 73.
Andrew MacLeod spent more than 30 years as a journalist before moving into public relations in 1998 as media director with Birmingham-based Quantum PR. He later became a consultant at Quicksilver PR before launching MacLeod Media Services in 2002.
Mr MacLeod, who lived in Leamington Spa, started his journalistic career on the Walsall Observer before moving to the Express & Star in 1976 when he became chief reporter of the Walsall office.
He went on to join the Birmingham Post & Mail in 1985 as chief industrial correspondent before holding down a ten-year stay as industry editor of the Coventry Evening Telegraph, which he joined in 1988.
ITV News Central presenter Bob Warman, who also started his career on the Walsall Observer, said: “I was just starting out in journalism when I met Andy.
“He was one of those early colleagues who, through a love of newspapers and the people who worked on them, forged a life-long bond.
“He was, on first meeting, a tall, bearded, serious man but whose healthy cynicism and well-developed sense of the ridiculous would shine through after the first pint. He was, what we would now consider to be, an ‘old school’ journalist with a nose for a good story, an enviable contacts book, and an unerring instinct for truth and accuracy. Not least, he was a gentleman.”
Former BBC reporter Bob Sinkinson, who worked with Mr MacLeod providing media relations training, said: “Andrew was an outstanding journalist held in high regard and affection. His knowledge of industry, and the automotive sector, was legendary.”
Mr MacLeod, who died in Warwick Hospital, is survived by his widow, Angela, and sons Iain, a Coronation Street producer with ITV, and Rory, an IT specialist.
His funeral takes place at Oakley Woods Crematorium, near Warwick, on Thursday, 19 December at 1pm.