We were all shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of our friend and colleague Bill Murray on February 3.
A hugely popular figure, Bill was UKOM Commercial Board chair and one of the founders of UKOM in 2009. In 2019, recalling UKOM's creation to mark its tenth anniversary, he said he was proud of making a little bit of history and recalled how it all began with a town hall.
"Digital is different,” he wrote. “Here, the debate included what to measure, how to define what you wanted to measure, how on earth you measured it, how that might be audited, whether that would be relevant in six months, how much it might it cost to stay abreast of developments in a rapidly evolving market – and how best to underwrite those costs.”
Ian Dowds, UKOM CEO, said: “Bill has been a key part of UKOM since its inception and his passion for our organisation and what it stands for remained undimmed over 13 years. Bill really was one of the good guys; generous, empathetic, principled - we’ll miss him terribly.”
Iain Jacob, UKOM Chair, said: “Bill was one of those wonderful people that give more than they get, have a natural generosity of spirit and that make the world a better place. He was a great colleague and guide at UKOM as well as being the founder. He leaves a fantastic legacy.”
Bill spent most of his career at Haymarket where he worked for 22 years and rose to be managing director for group business information strategy. He was the founding chair of the AOP and a senior adviser to multiple boards and businesses since leaving Haymarket in 2008.
No time spent with Bill was ever wasted. He would - without fail - make us think, make us laugh and challenge whatever assumption we started out with. Our deepest condolences go to his family.
