McEwans LA Series
In 1989 I was approached by a public relations firm acting on behalf of McEwans the Edinburgh based brewers who wished to promot their new LA beer. In co-operation with the PR company we established a series of events in cities around the UK - Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, London and Cardiff.. They were proffesional races supported by an amateur race. Most of the general organisation was undertaken by me but I was grateful for the support of cycling friends in the other cities who carried out the local activities and organisational requirements. I guess the events were quite successful attracting large numbers of spectators. I am currently searchinig through my records and will re-visit this page when I will add some more details.After that first year we were planning for year two. At the BCF conference in Blackpool late in 1989 I met with another promoter who had a chat with me and indicated he would not approach my sponsors.
That was true - he didn't, but an associate of his within the world of TV did. An approach was made direct to McEwans who then told their PR representatives they were moving their events to another promoter. This was on the back of promises to put their events on TV. That too did happen but regretable the slots were overnight (2 am) and did not attract the viewers expected. After that year the sponsorship was dropped.
