Barrie Gill passes away

Gill was born in 1934 and his career, which was always dominated by sport, began as a journalist with the Bury Times. He became a respected motorsport broadcaster with the BBC before joining the Ford Motor Company, where he was responsible for developing its early motorsport sponsorship strategies. It was this involvement which led him to set up GBM (which evolved into CSS) in 1973.

As chairman and CEO, Gill oversaw the growth of CSS into one of the UK's leading sports marketing agencies, responsible for the groundbreaking central football sponsorship contracts with the Football League, and engaged in the development of sponsorship within F1 and motorsport in general. In 1999, CSS merged with Stellar Management, and CSS Stellar floated in November 2000. It is now one of the UK's largest sports marketing and entertainment groups.

In 1990, Gill became a founder member of ESCA (the European Sponsorship Consultants Association). He served as its chairman for a total of seven years over two periods between 1990 and 2002. He was also heavily engaged in charitable work as a trustee of the Lord's Taverners and as chairman of the Motor Racing Committee.

In 2000, Gill was voted the Hollis Sponsorship Personality of the Year. He leaves a widow, Sally, and two sons, Nick and Paul.