Brian Davies


Brian posing behind the Iron Curtain, 1972


 I started travelling in Europe in the early 70s, dragged around by the Pan & Fontana European Sales Manager at that time, Jonathan Lloyd! David Love was a fellow European traveller and while he and I chased around Europe, Chris Owen was conquering South America and Africa, and Nick Potts was doing various things in Asia, both overseen by the legendary Roger Lloyd-Taylor. The amazing Tim Wilton-Steer was also at Pan in those days. 
Brian and Brian Phillips in NZ, sometime in the 1970s
After three years the constant partying finally got to me and I fled to the calm back waters of New Zealand, only to be met by the likes of Brian Phillips and Adrian Bourne and some of the longest lunches ever taken on by mankind!
Brian in Australia
Three years later I found myself in Australia working for Collins for a short period before teaming up with Nick Potts to found Pan Australia and subsequently Pan New Zealand and Pan South Africa. Several years of fun ensued further developing both my book marketing and my drinking skills! Simon Master, Alewyn Birch, John Clement, Terry Kitson and Eddie Bell to name just some visitors were all actively involved in either helping or doing their best to hinder the fortunes of our fledgling company during this time, but in either event some serious lunches and dinners as well as meetings ensued! Visits from Roger Lloyd Taylor and Paul Walton always resulted in additional adventures!
Brian with Chairman Mao
Back in London in 1987 as Sales and Marketing Director for Pan Macmillan I had the pleasure of working with Simon Littlewood for the first time. Six years later I was out of Macmillan and into the arms of Random House Inc. finding myself the unlikely boss of such luminaries as Sandy Friedman, Tom Flynn, John Beauchamp and Ann Wearin and even more extraordinary after the merger with Bertelsmann I was even Alun Davies’ boss for a while!
Shopping in Shanghai

During the New York days in the 90’s I was travelling around six months of the year and hit just about every continent in the world, finally catching up on the delights of both China and parts of South America which I missed out on in the early days. 

Since I was also responsible for UK International at that time I now became acquainted with David Parrish and was later happily reunited with Simon Littlewood and of course the lovely Diana Jones. As well as working directly with these guys I was also regularly doing business with Ralph and Sheila Summers, Peter and Richard Ward and in the early days people such as the extraordinary Bernie and Durga Edson.


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Having retired from publishing, I now work as an Executive Coach so overseas travel is now confined to recreational trips and the airmiles unfortunately accumulate much more slowly...