Welcome letter from the Editor
A warm welcome to the March issue of Scootering
It’s hard to believe how quickly the time has gone, as I now enter my fourth year with the magazine. It was back in 2015, whilst running the scooter garage Scooterotica, when I spotted an advert for the position of assistant editor. Having had 11 years’s experience in publishing, as well as being the co-owner of a scooter garage, dyno centre, and the UK’s No1 scooter forum, I sent in my application, in the hope that all of the above would be enough to get me a foot in the door. It was. Not long afterwards, I was being interviewed for the position by then editor, Andy Gillard. He gave me a two-hour grilling, leaving no stone unturned as he checked my credentials. Part of the process was for me to give a synopsis of the mag, its problems, and deliver ideas for future editorial features. I must have got something right, because only a week later I received a phone call offering me the job. It took me a good three months to finish off the scooters and engines I had already taken in at Scooterotica, and then I had to inform my customer base that I could no longer service their requirements. It was quite a sad time for me in that respect, being the end of an era, but I knew I was going on to something bigger and better… Scootering magazine!
I made my dep-ed debut in the March 2016 edition of the mag, and the rest is history, as the promotion to editor presented itself. The landscape I walked into wasn’t the one I was expecting, but regardless,I got stuck in and have never looked back since. It’s been head down and balls out all the way, paying respect to as much history and tradition as possible, whilst carving my own path along the way. There've been a few small bumps in the road, but they’ve made the journey all the more interesting and worthwhile. I inherited a strong team that had been with the magazine many years. Mark ‘Sarge’ Sargeant, Dave ‘Nostalgic Custom’ Oakley, Nik ‘Special Brew’ Skeat, Richie ‘The Lens’ Lunt, and newer starts such as Jordan ‘Young Guns’ Lewis. Standing on the shoulder of giants, I added to the mix BSSO racing aficionado Paul Green, 100mph Lambretta Club owner and scooter historian Stu Owen, tuning expert Darrell Taylor, industry journalist Big Stan, travelling journalist Christian Giarrizzo, as well as rally reporters Stu Smith, Jamie Godley, and Serena Chamberlain. Many others have, and still do, contribute on an ad-hoc basis, giving the magazine a highly valued input from a variety of sources, and stop it becoming simply one man’s view of the scene. It would be far too easy for me to sit in the editor’s chair and announce: “This is how I see the scooter scene, so this is how you should see the scooter scene.” That would be a very narrow-minded approach, and would also severely limit the readership. Between the inclusive approach I strive for, the journalistic talent that has been assembled, the supportive team behind the scenes at head office, and you, the Scootering readers, riders, owners, tuners, racers, enthusiasts and general scootering loons, we’ve gone from strength to strength. I encourage constructive critique, search out practical suggestions, and try to include as much reader feedback as possible in the mag, as it helps develop the product and stops things going stale.
I’m therefore incredibly pleased and grateful that all our hard work has been so well received by you, the reader, and kept us in the Scootering magazine top slot by a country mile. Thank you, one and all.
Anyway, that’s enough of my ramblings. It’s another belter this month, so enjoy the issue.