My friend Bob.

In early April 2015, 250 people packed into Southend Crematorium to say goodbye to one of the nicest guys in the industry, Bob Frost of Spa Films. In the heyday of VHS, Bob had the largest duplication facility in Essex. With a push of one button, a bank of JVC professional Duplicators and Triplicators would whirr into action and with the lights dimmed, the flashing LEDS, scopes and other meters, looked like the fight deck of an Airbus. On one programme that I made, Bob duplicated 35,000 copies, over a 3 year period. With what seemed like an overnight switch to DVD, Bob was still at the forefront and the first with robotic thermal printing and duplication towers.

Bob was more than a video/film producer turned duplicator. The former LT tube driver had a passion for model trains, in particular the sit-on gauge that you see in some parks. He had two spectacular engines. In his garage was a mini engineering workshop, complete with a lathe, where parts for the trains were made or modified. Many a piece of kit was saved from the tip by Bob’s engineering skills, including at least one camera! (Not mine). He also had a passion for cycling and when my wife had a problem with her Shimano gears, one call to Bob for advice, resulted in him arriving with the Spa Films van, “to take to my workshop for attention”. He was also a very good guitarist who would have given Hank Marvin a run for his money.

I learned so much from him not only his depth of technical expertise but also his ability to know when a job was turning sour at an early stage. He would use a train driver expression relating to the lever that must be held when the train is in motion, the dead man’s handle and when a job wasn’t running well, he would make a “sssshhhhh” sound, the air brakes coming on “drop the handle”!

In my studio under my Spa Films clock is a photo of Bob and more than a few times, I can hear him saying, “oh Davy what have you done”, if a job is not going well or piece of equipment is misbehaving. Without realising it, Bob did risk assessments on work before “risk assessments were invented”. The one thing I learnt more than anything from my friend of 25 years was to evaluate and identify potential problems, before they occur. That is the secret of a happy customer base that have their expectations met, or better still, exceeded.

Bob was universally liked by his colleagues and clients alike and is missed by us all.

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