Eddie Tobin was a straight talking man with a great sense of humour and a very interesting back story. I first met him more than 25 years ago but I had known of him for many years before through mutual friends.
We met after I wrote a story in Sue Says decrying the fact that the man who brought ‘deep discounting’ to Glasgow when he was Operations Director for Daso Nicholas at Carnegies, had taken on a role in the Alcohol Action Group. He gave me a call and we met up and this started our friendship. Over the next 20 years we enjoyed many a lunch and many an event. In fact just before Best Bar None launched in 2004 he took me to Manchester to see what Best Bar None was like there – it was a great event and the company too was excellent and the formation of Best Bar None in Scotland was certainly driven by his enthusiasm for what is considered to be one of the most enduring crime reduction initiatives in the country.
He was an excellent mediator, perhaps due to his involvement over the years in security and training, and this led to him posts on countless council, police and government led initiatives. He was Chairman of the Glasgow Nightclub Forum, and for 20 years was Chairman of the British Entertainment and Dance Association (BEDA). He was a past Chairman of the Scottish Late Night Operators’ Association, Paisley and Renfrew CCTV Trust, Glasgow Licensing Forum and was a member of various other groups including the SLTA, Crimestoppers, the Scottish Executive Expert Group on Licensing, Glasgow City Centre Home Safe Group the Scottish Executive Adult Entertainment Group, Scottish Executive National Smoke Free Areas Implementation Group and of course the Greater Glasgow Alcohol Action Group.
At the same time he held down a full-time job and after many years on the operational side of hospitality for Stakis, Carnegies, Unicorn Leisure and S&N, he went into security and became Managing Director of Upfront Security (now Securigroup) and subsequently went on to set up his own facilities company Group Scotland which included a cleaning company – Cleaning Scotland and Security Scotland in 2005 (that seems like yesterday!).
James Glackin, Managing Director of Group Scotland comments, “Losing Eddie is not only a massive loss to our Company, but the security industry in general. Eddie Tobin will remain an irreplaceable personal void in my life.
“The term father figure doesn’t do justice to the relationship we had, alongside the guidance and direction he was always there to offer advice on a personal level as well as in business. We will continue what you started Eddie, and as a rule of your ethos in life, we will always have a laugh along the way doing it, you will always be missed.”
As well as being a good businessman Eddie had a heart of gold and helped out many people over the years – but he himself needed looking after when he was shot on his doorstep in 2006 – fortunately it was just his leg that was injured.
However, he took that in his stride – calling his PA to get her to cancel his meetings and to let his daughter know he’d been shot. He never revealed exactly why he was shot. Although it was rumoured it was because he was going into the security game himself. However when he attended the DRAM Awards the following year it had a prohibition theme and he entertained his fellow guests by pretending to hide under the table when our fake gangsters appeared. This led to a lot of hilarity!
In 2011 when his great pal Allan Mawn died suddenly he stepped in to help his partner run the establishments Velvet Elvis, Criterion and Pinxto while the estate was sorted. He really did have a heart of gold. In fact he even turned Pinxto into a New York burger joint and we had lunch there to celebrate.
Said Donald Macleod MBE, MD Holdfast Entertainment and CPL, “I was desperately sad when I heard of Eddies passing. ‘Whistling Eddie’ I would jokingly call him, due to him having holes in his leg for the wind to whistle through, after he was shot. Something that he, with that famous glint in his eye, would like Mutley, always snigger loudly at.
“Personally he was a hugely influential figure in my life, a supporter whose sage advice at pivotal points in my career, helped guide and steer me away from the dark side. Something I will forever be grateful for.
“He was a hugely influential figure, a driving force behind developing closer relationships between the trade, licencing boards and the police, and the role he played in helping drive up standards in the security industries and his involvement in help shaping the duty of care for the public and staff alike, through his initial chairing of the Glasgow Licencing Forum, can never be overstated. He was a giant of a man who I respected immensely and now miss greatly.”
DJ and Journalist Billy Sloan also shared his memories, Billy says of Eddie, “Talking to Eddie Tobin was like turning the pages of a history book of Scottish rock music. I got to know him more than 40 years ago when he was part of the team who ran the greatest music venue in the world – the legendary Glasgow Apollo. I’ve seen bands play all over the world but no other concert arena came close to the old cinema/theatre which once stood proudly at the top of Renfield Street in Glasgow.
“Every time I met Eddie for a coffee or lunch he would regale me with stories of the Apollo. He had a million of them – and I hung on his every word.
“Ironically the last time I spoke to Eddie was in September when I phoned to pass on the sad news that Frank Lynch – the boss of the Apollo – had passed away after a long illness at his home in South Carolina.
“Eddie also managed The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at the peak of their career. If ever a group lived up to their name it was SAHB. They remain my all time favourite Scottish rock band. Eddie also had a million stories about the crazy exploits of Alex and his gang. I lapped them up too.
“In recent years Eddie and I talked about compiling a coffee table book on the Apollo using the incredible photographs of our mutual friend, the late Ronnie Anderson. When Ronnie passed away and the idea came to nothing. But any book would have been a fitting successor to Eddie’s superb tome Are Ye Dancing? – his pictorial history of the Scottish dance hall scene. Eddie was at the epicentre of a Scottish music revolution that will never be repeated.
“He was that rare thing in the industry … a real straight talker who could spot a fake a mile away.
“Eddie’s love and enthusiasm for all aspects of his work was evident. He was one of the good guys – and I was proud to call him a friend.”
I think Billy echoes all our sentiments. He is survived by his wife Elspeth, son Chris and daughter Claire and families, Our thoughts with them.