Finally, one of my most prized possessions finds his place on the office shelf. That’s right, kids. Sooty. And more than that – an ACTUAL Sooty.
Back in 1999 / 2000 I worked for the Beck Theatre in West London as their Marketing Manager. I oversaw pretty much every show there for a whole year before moving on, and one of these shows was a SOOTY show during the school holidays.
As part of the press for the show, Sooty (with help from co-presenters Richard Cadell and Liana Bridges) put his name forward for Mayor of London, and held a press conference while at the Beck Theatre. And, as part of my job, after the ‘speech’ was over, I kept hold of him while the ‘assistants’ disappeared, so that any press that wanted to take additional photos (usually a photo of the reporter covering the event with Sooty) could do so.
Somehow, once the show had moved on, that Sooty was still in the Marketing department, and for the remainder of my time there was a fluffy yellow mascot on my desk. And, when I left the Beck, he came with me.
Over the years he’s been displayed on a variety of living room shelves, but never in my office. Finally, I’ve rectified that, and for the first time in almost twenty years, Sooty watches over me as I work.
