Great bloke and a massive influence on Stone

The sector has lost another channel stalwart and a great character too. I first met James back in 1992. He was Stone. He lived and breathed the business, knew it inside out, was a great salesman and more importantly, knew both his business and his customers as no-one else did. Met him on many, many occasions since then and always enjoyed the experience. Worked with him over some trickier times but never doubted his ability, desire and above all his integrity. These are big boots to fill and I hope he enjoys 'ticking off more things on his bucket list'.

JB7, the man behind the brand

I had the pleasure of working with James Bird after Stone aquired Compusys in 2006, I let in late 2010

James is a man of vision, he's a straight talker, has a no nonsense approach and the business interest came first.

Sadly I do not believe there are many within the Stone Group who can fill those shoes and walk the walk the way James did. I have a few "candidates" in my mind, but none of them can measure up to James in stature, nature or business accumen.

He was so pro-active in every element of the business and that's what put him head and shoulders above any other CEO I have worked with

If they are to find a viable candidate I believe it will be from the outside, otherwise history may just repeat itself with profits dipping and staff morale declining.

No idea what JB intends on doing now, but I guess he'll be soaking up the sun in Spain again very soon..