The story of Pip Ahoy! began where the Salties ended. Francis and I had a agreed a 50/50 partnership, so it was now a matter for us to draw up a transfer of the Salties IP over to Pip PLC for the sum of £1. People have asked why I agreed to sell it for a nominal sum and my answer would be that I trusted the new team to develop my idea into a worldwide success. As the creator, I was also provided with around 12.5% of the share capital, or approximately 1.7 million shares. From memory, the others held around 10% each.

The team had decided that Pip needed to be a PLC to make fundraising simpler, but forming a PLC would prove to be far more complicated and the company used RW Blears solicitors in London to begin the process. The new animation was originally called Pip, but we had received an email from the owners of Pippi Longstocking contesting our name, so we added the word ‘Ahoy!’ - hence, Pip Ahoy! would be the brand name and Pip PLC the company name.

With Simon Hall now acting as managing director of Pip, I was asked if I would like to become. a Director of the company and I agreed. Julian Hickman from Juno Capital, was also asked to join us on the Board and we met at the offices at RW Blears to discuss drafting of the ‘IM”. At the time, I had’t a clue what an IM was, but soon learnt, it referred to the company’s Information Memorandum, an important document, especially as we were about to start fundraising.

A few weeks earlier, the team had met in Manchester to discuss fundraising for the Pip Ahoy! animation series. I learnt that these were created in blocks of 26 and, in the case of Pip, these would be 11 minutes each in duration. You have to remember that the animation industry was new to me. I had spent many years as a commercial photographer, so knew my own profession well, but this was different. Nobody sat down with me to discuss the process, they were all experts in the world of animation, storyboarding, scriptwriting and voice overs, so they didn’t see the need to spend time with me. Perhaps, there was some resentment from the ex-Cosgrove Hall employees, that Brian Cosgrove and Simon Hall were now prepared to form a new company and animate an idea from a photographer. Perhaps, some of them wished they had submitted their own ideas earlier? In any case, most were very friendly and happy to begin work.

Back to the fundraising. In my naivety, I had thought that the main shareholders in Pip PLC, would each be asked to submit a sum of money. Having spent a small fortune creating the Salties, I was preparing to have to consider a business loan and was thinking we would each be asked to contribute around £25,000. I was surprised therefore to find that we would only need to pay £500 for our own tranche of A shares and rest would be raised from shareholders. I nearly fell off my chair, when I learnt that the first 26 episodes would cost in the region of £3.2 million, that’s around £11,000 per minute (Pip Ahoy! would be made in 2D)

The people tasked with raising this enormous sum of money were introduced to us at the meeting: Adrian Wilkins and Martin Keenan, both IFAs (Independent Financial Advisors) from the Bristol area. Smartly dressed, they each delivered a pitch, that detailed how we would raise the money via a series of fundraising events around the country. Adrian explained that we would be taking advantage of the Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) which provided generous tax reliefs for any shareholders considering an investment in Pip Ahoy!

NB. When I first met with Francis to discuss The Salties , he made it very clear to me that the animations industry is high risk and can take many years for a show to become recognised and successful. He told me that 95% of animation fails to broadcast on TV, let alone secure a master toy licence to provide an income stream via licensing and merchandising (L&M). I guess that is why I had never given up my day job a commercial photographer and had no intention of doing so with Pip. Many people had mentioned the story of Peppa Pig - apparently, it had been turned down for 4 years and then students started watching it. Suddenly, it became a global success, worth billions of dollars in income each year.

The IFAs told us that they would mostly sell Pip Ahoy! shares to ‘high net worth’ individuals, who were aware of the risks associated with an investment in children’s animation and could afford to lose their entire investment, if things didn’t work out. A glossy IM (Information Memorandum) had recently been printed, which set out the terms of investing in Pip and the risks versus rewards. The projected income overt the next 5 years for Pip Ahoy! was divided into 3 columns: low, medium and high and detailed income from broadcasting companies, toys, apparel, games and live appearances. To be honest this all sounded incredibly exciting and I kept thinking back to the time when I had first sketched the seaside characters in the little red book.

There was one more surprise in store. When Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall had first started Cosgrove Hall in 1976, they would use the talents of a voice-over artist to the animation. A few years later, Cosgrove Hall contacted a young actor called David Jason (who had just started Only Fools and Horses) to enquire if he would like to be the voice of a new animation called Danger Mouse. You can read more of the story here. It appeared that Brian Cosgrove had been in touch with his old friend (now Sir David Jason OBE) to ask him if he would like to voice a number of the characters in Pip Ahoy!, including Skipper. When Sir David readily accepted, we suddenly realised that Pip now had one of the UK’s premiere actors on board, but this would also prove to be a huge PR scoop. The IFAs also recognised an opportunity to ask Sir David to attend the fundraising evenings, where well healed investors would be delighted to listen to Sir David anecdotes from his illustrious acting career, before bringing out their cheque books!

We held our first AGM at Mottram Hall and I was surprised to see how many people had attended, including a wonderfully flamboyant gentleman, called Sir Eric Peacock. It appeared Sir Eric had been asked to join the board on one of the CHF companies, but I remember thinking it was rather early in the life of the company to make such appointments. Sir Eric did seem to be a very experienced businessman and reminded me somewhat of Sit John John Harvey-Jones in both looks and temperament. I instantly like him. At the dinner that evening, I sat next to Ian Morris, the company’s accountants. Apparently, Ian had been Cosgrove Hall’s accountants for many years and knew Brian well, so I guessed he had been asked to look after Pip PLC too. However, as a PLC, the company audit would be rather more complex than a limited company. After dinner, we made our way to the bar. As we did so, I kept meeting new who seemed to be involved with the company is some way. I remember meeting one gentleman, a thickly set, athletic type withe firm handshake. Having introduced myself to him, Simon casually leant across and told me to count the number of fingers on my right hand. I smiled, but found it a rather strange comment. Having reached a very crowded bar, I could see most of the CHF employees had divided into small groups and were deep in conversation. I felt as if I was the ‘outsider’, with nobody willing to introduce me or make conversation. No matter, I mingled with them and made polite conversation to complete strangers. After a couple of hours, Simon suddenly appeared in front of the bar and summoned everyone’s attention. Thinking he was about to make an important company announcement about Pip, we all listened intently. Instead, he introduced us to a well dressed lady standing next to him. “ I would like to introduce you to Rachel, my girlfriend’, he said. I could see everyone looked rather shocked at the news (Simon was married, with two children). This is how we met Rachel Giles, someone, who would have a lasting impact on Pip and Simon. The next day, the AGM was attended by more people that I had never met. Each gave. a brief presentation, before the meeting was brought to a close by Sir Eric. Full of wonderful business related anecdotes, he kept us entertained for quite a while, before wishing Pip PLC ever success for the future.

Before we could start the fundraising, we needed a pilot to show them Pip Ahoy!. We would need an animation ‘bible’ which set out the characters, Saltytown and their stories. These would all cost money and in terms of the pilot, around £100,000, so we were told that we would need to find a number of ‘seed investors’, who would be prepared to take a higher level of risk, in return for more shares. Whenever, people came to the studio for a photoshoot, I would often tell my customers about Pip and it seemed they found the story fascinating. Friends and family did not escape my enthusiasm for the animation and it wasn’t long before customers and friends were asking me if they could become seed investors. I carefully pointed out the risks associated with such an investment, but they seemed happy to continue, so I put them in touch with Adrian Wilkins and his staff, who were now running an associate CHF company called CHF Enterprises. With the seed investment raised, Sir David attended the first voice-over recordings at Soho Square Studios and I asked if I could attend to take some behind the scenes photographs. The sound recording session proved to be fascinating and Sir David was joined by three other very well known voice artists: Teresa Gallagher, Jimmy Hibbert and Emma Tate. Each voiced a number of characters from the show and I was amazed how each of them could read the script, suddenly changing their voices to suit. The CHF team were seated in the control room, beside a sound engineer, with instructions relayed via an intercom to the sound proof booth.

It wasn’t long before the pilot had been made and the bibles printed. Sir David Jason had also most generously recorded a short film, that described his association with Cosgrove Hall and his delight at being asked to voice a number of the Pip Ahoy! characters. One of the first events was held in Bristol, adjacent to HMS SS Great Britain. I arrived early armed with my camera to record the evening and stood on the dockside awaiting the first arrivals. A large chauffeur driven jaguar arrived and out stepped Sir David. Having met him a few weeks earlier at the voice-over sessions, I approached him and introduced myself . I don’t think he recognised me, but he must meet so many people each day, so I couldn’t blame him. I asked him; ‘Do you know Bristol well Sir David?’ He smiled and replied, ‘I should do, as we filmed Only Fools in Bristol for many years’ he pointed at a large nondescript block of flats in the distance. ‘Mandela House’, he continued. It was my time to smile, but noticing people were now arriving, I wished him a good evening and returned to the meeting room.

The fundraising events would follow a well rehearsed formula. Approximately, 100 wealthy looking people would file into the venue and mingle with a glass of wine and a nibble or two. Adrian would then take to the lectern to welcome everyone and explain the investment in detail, with the inevitable Powerpoint running behind him. Simon Hall and Nicola Johnson (an employee of CHF Enterprises) would often say a few words, but the highlight of the evening would always be Sir David and for good reason. His stories would hold even the most successful businessperson spellbound and I would then be on hand to ensure everyone had a photograph taken with him. After a few events, I suggested that we might have a few Pip Ahoy limited edition prints produced for Sir David to sign. Brian Cosgrove had pre signed them and when people asked for a photograph to be taken signing their copy, we asked for a donation to charity, raising quite a few hundred pounds in the process.

By now, many of my friends had learnt about Pip Ahoy!. I was a regular contributor to a local radio show at Radio Northampton and many of my friends would ask for an update on Pip’s progress. I was on a ‘boy’s tour’ in France - one of those activity weeks, when we would try anything from white water rafting, to mountain climbing and other energetic pursuits. My good friend Grant Ashley had invited me along and the bunch of guys turned out to be wonderful company. I’m not a natural ‘team player’ by nature, but the experience of these annual tours was good for me and I enjoyed the challenges - sometimes! I can remember an particularly long climb up a mountain range near Chamonix in France. We were following a ‘Via Ferrata’ (Italian for Iron Path) and it was a long climb. My climbing buddy, turned out to be a very good friend of Grant’s, called Andy fay and we hit it off immediately. Inevitably, we started to talk about families and careers and it wasn’t too long before the subject of Pip came up. Andy is one of those rare people, who makes conversation, but listens well too. Perhaps, that is why he has been so successful in business. It was at dinner th next evening that he suddenly announced that he was going to make an investment into Pip. I won’t divulge the amount, but Andy told me that he was investing in me, not Pip. I was hugely grateful, but rather worried at the same time, wondering if I could live up to his expectations. Grant had also invested in Pip, my accountant introduced a number of friends and family. It seemed everyone wanted to be a part of our journey.

Simon had given Rachel a role at CHF. I can’t remember he title, but it was clear that she was now running Pip PLC with him. With the pilot complete, Simon and Rachel set about recruiting the team of animators and our first premises. I think everyone was rather astonished at the size of the building when they eventually found it. We would be based on the ground floor of the Towers in Didsbury, Manchester, a hugely imposing, gothic style building. Many people would later refer to it as Toad Hall and I can remember hearing that Brian thought it far too ostentatious and expensive, for a first premises.

One of the first meetings at the Towers was for the creatives to get together and plan the production of the 26 episodes of Pip. Being. a creative sort of person myself, I didn’t want to miss this meeting, so drove from Northampton to Didsbury, a journey that I was to make many times. Upon entering I the room, I instantly recognised a few people from Mottram Hall and previous CHF meetings - Simon Hall and Ben Turner - an immensely talented man, who had penned many of the original Cosgrove Hall animations and would now be talking a lead role with the designs for Pip. Corrinne Averiss - a well known script writer and two people from a toy design company called Carterbench. Ben started the presentation, by showing us some of his ideas for the colour pallet for Pip and explained that he would be taking influences form artists in St Ives, Cornwall and showed us how the characters would be outlined, so that they would be clearly seen against the brightly coloured background scenes. Ben continued, by introducing us to his version of Salty Cove, a beautiful seaside town, of brightly coloured little houses, a harbour, lighthouse and a small steam train. Ben also presented the finished versions of each character: Pip, Alba, Pasty, Hopper, Skipper, Shelvis and the Squiblets. In ‘Dad’s Army’ fashion, these lead characters would appear in most episodes, supported by additional characters, as the stories developed. There would also be a number of vehicles ,boats and accessories which would be made available as toys, hence the reason Carterbench were attending. NB. I was told at a previous meeting that an episode of a child’s animation, is actually an 11 minute advert for the toys. The child will watch the program, often with their Mother, who will then see the Pip Ahoy! range of toys and apparel available to buy online, or in the supermarket. This would form the basis for the licensing and merchandising strategy. Ben concluded his presentation and I can remember thinking how lucky we were to have such a talented member of the team with us.

Corrinne Averiss was next to present the synopsis and an overview of each episode. She then referred back to Ben’s illustrations of the main characters, providing us with detailed information about them and how they interacted with each other. The following information is taken from the early editions of the Pip Ahoy! bible:

Synopsis

Follow the adventures of five year old Pip and his best friend Alba in this fresh, vibrant pre- school series!

If you packed your case, your favourite sun hat and took the train to Salty Cove, we could take you up to Skipper’s lighthouse where you could paint a pretty picture of sand, sea and sky!

But what if you wanted more than a view? What if what you really wanted was an ADVENTURE!

Well! You’d better meet Pip!

Pip knows everyone in Salty Cove and everyone in Salty Cove knows Pip. But there’s one thing that no one can ever know and that’s exactly what each new day will bring!

Salty Cove never stays the same, it is bursting with life! There are boats being fixed at the boat yard, veggies being sold in the grocer’s, families playing catch on the beach but what makes Salty Cove so different is its visitors!

By land, sea and sky new visitors are irresistibly drawn to this colourful spot. Pip knows that new visitors bring new adventures with them so he’s always first on the case when a new boat docks at the harbour or the Cove Express comes chuff-chuff chuffing into the station. That’s not the only way friends arrive either. You’ll see hovercrafts, speedy boats, sailing boats, air balloons, beach planes and even sky kites!

Everyone wants their holiday adventure in the Cove and we mean everyone.... Mouse Pirates, the Golfing Gofers, Swifty the Seal, all the Acro-Bats from Miss Bendy Stretch’s Circus, the not-so-tough Puffins (who are scared of the sea!) and even Mr. Collar and Co. the ever so busy business Giraffes who just can’t stop working on holiday.

Perhaps even you would like your holiday here?

Episode Dynamic

Aimed at three to five year olds, the key to this series lies in the special relationship between Pip and Alba - best friends with an irrepressible spirit for adventure and a love of problem solving in their own unique way.

When Pip has a plan, he just has to tell Alba first! No amount of zeal makes up for the fun of sharing an idea with his best buddy and winning her approval or hearing her challenge. Pip might be leading the way but Alba is equally headstrong, luckily in most cases their personal obsessions are different enough for them to compliment each other well. Pip might like to sit at the front of the beach train so he feels like he’s driving, Alba likes to sit at the back so she can laugh at all the passengers jiggling up and down. Through Alba, Pip discovers alternative fun ways of seeing their world.

Pip and Alba love to seek out the company of their pals Pasty and Hopper who really make them laugh with their extreme, comical personalities.... more about them and their sillier tendencies later!

Pip’s confidence and curiosity pave the way for some crazy escapades and Alba, Hopper and Pasty love to be along for the ride!

A puppy like Pip needs to stay on his paws because here in Salty Cove, adventures aren’t just in picture books - they’re happening right under his nose. Friendship, adventure, laughter, imagination, and life by the seaside.

Educational Areas

• Learning through laughter

• Understanding the world

• Personal, social and emotional development

• Communication, language and literacy

• Problem solving and reasoning

Main Characters

PIP the Pup

Pip is the perfect puppy playmate - adventurous, generous, gregarious, a little bit mischievous and always on the look-out for new opportunities to play and have fun!

He loves the town he lives in and can’t imagine
there’s anywhere better in the whole wide world. It suits him perfectly. Pip loves boats - all their different shapes and sizes and has fun giving them names to suit the way they look.

You’ll rarely see him leave home without his Scopey eye, the small telescope Skipper gave to him, it always comes in handy on an adventure!

Pip also loves to make new friends and delights in how they do things differently. He likes coming up with grand plans, helping Skipper at the boat yard, joking around with Hopper and sharing all of the twists and turns with his very best friend, Alba

ALBA the Cat

Alba is four going on five, she likes being a good friend and making Pip laugh. But she can be a bit bossy and is known to stamp her foot from time to time.

Alba is quite impressed by Pip, she thinks he makes the world a fun place to be but she wouldn’t want him to know it as she considers herself to be more ‘growed’ up.

She definitely has a silly streak though because she loves hiding and then jumping out on people, making up songs and playing ‘Mummy’ to Paws, her teddy bear.

She also collects things in her scrap book which she keeps in her backpack - it’s great for looking back over their adventures.

PASTY the Crab

Pasty is the quietest of Pip’s friends but he loves to be part of the action. He doesn’t say much but when he does, it’s a practical nugget of wisdom to be cherished. He is the strong silent hero in any situation and often surprises the gang with a hidden talent they’d never suspected. Pasty lives in an old upturned boat, a little house of his own making, beneath which he collects

all kinds of odds and ends that he finds on the
beach. Something always comes in handy on an adventure and his claws are his very own personal toolkit!

Being a sideways walker can have funny consequences - he often bumps into people or things and whether it be animal or object, he’s always ready with an ‘oops sorry’!

HOPPER the Gull

Hopper is Salty Cove’s class clown - a rather loud and confident one-legged seagull! He is the older child of the group, interacting with Pip and Alba
as though younger siblings. He’s quite nosey so he’ll often arrive on the scene to see what Pip is up to. He likes to crack a joke and tease

them and is usually the one laughing the loudest at it. Hopper thinks the non-fliers have a lot to learn from him, he grandly pronounces all kinds of ‘facts’ which are often as randomly cobbled together as flotsam and jetsam! Pip and Alba will challenge them from time

to time and he may quietly give in ......or change the subject! It’s certainly handy to have Hopper on your adventure as wings
are very clever things. He’s not the bravest of gulls
(he’s even a little bit scared of heights!).

SKIPPER the Sea Dog

Skipper is the lighthouse keeper - an old salty sea dog full of useful and useless information about life beside the sea.

He is a pillar of the Salty Cove community - kind, gentle and wise but he’s never lost touch with his inner child and frequently reveals an appetite for fun and mischief. Pip and Alba treasure the time they get to spend with him, they like the privilege of helping out with lighthouse duties but most of all they love to hear his wild and wonderful stories about his own encounters in the Cove, especially when he exclaims ‘salty shellfish!’ producing fits of giggles from the pair! Skipper is a great storyteller for our audience too,
he sees everything from his lighthouse so he’s the perfect narrator to share Pip’s encounters with us.

SHELVIS the Hermit Crab

Busy busy, faster faster! Shelvis the hermit crab
is always in a rush! She likes to be the telegram messenger between the friends, passing on news in her own unique version of Morse code. It’s funny to watch her zipping about - she certainly has a need for speed, and likes to get ahead of the group on adventures!

She’s a good reminder that little things matter too.

THE SQUIBLETS Salty Cove’s Singing Shells

The Squiblets are a cluster of little Singing Shells attached to the rock at Salty Cove. They love to sing a song about the day’s event.

It’s funny to watch them gurgle their way through a melody when the waves soak them!

If only we all had Squiblets in our lives to share a song and sing-along.

Corrinne concluded her presentation by describing some of the early stories for Pip and I could instantly see they would be fun, and educational, but sharing many of the traditions of Cosgrove Hall. Again, I was impressed by Corrinne and I could see we were starting to build a vert talented team of creatives.

People have asked me if I was sad to see many of my ideas for the Salties adapted into Pip Ahoy! Far from being sad, I was honoured to see my ideas adapted for a TV show, but always thought the ‘DNA’ of the Salties had been retained. Hence, I have always been credited as the ‘creator’ of Pip. In retrospect, it would have probably been more accurate to describe me as the co-creator with Ben Turner.

My role at CHF Pip PLC was never defined, hence I was starting to wonder if I was a Director of the company in name only. At the time, I was also a Director of my own photographic business and, although far smaller than Pip PLC, I was fully aware of my responsibilities. Simon Hall was the managing Director of Pip, supported by his new girlfriend Rachel Giles. Although, always courteous to me, Simon appeared to be cautious as to how much involvement I would take. As mentioned earlier, I don’t really consider myself as a team player and perhaps, I should have pushed myself forward far earlier, demanding a proper position in the company and responsible for certain aspects as to how it would be run. I was in a difficult position and entering an industry that I knew little about. Ben and Corrinne were always friendly and happy to share their ideas with me, others were more cautious and appeared to treat me as an ‘outsider’, who had no right to enter their profession. I therefore decided to create my own role, by photographing every aspect of Pip Ahoy! as it developed. As it turned out, my photographs would prove very useful to the team and marketing agencies.

Although, I was happy to assist the company with my photography skills, I was doing this in my own time and covering the costs of travel ect myself. At first, I was more than happy to oblige, as these people were making my show and I was most grateful to them. Therefore, I had to balance my time between Pip and my photography company, to ensure that I was earning enough for the latter to pay for me trips to Manchester. As a Director of Pip, I was also keen to keep an eye on the finances, but that is where I started to become concerned. I was starting to see that a network of CHF companies were being formed, each responsible for a different aspect of the creative process and one top level company, called Oakmanor. I was interested to see how each of these companies would interact with Pip PLC and how inter company transactions would be processed and recorded. I have always kept computerised accounting for my photography business, so I was somewhat surprised to see that CHF’s part time accountant, was keeping Pip PLC records on a spreadsheet. I thought it important that the Directors should receive monthly management accounts, but nobody seemed too bothered about them and the only figures we would see, were those produced at the end of year. I was not provided with access to the company bank account or monthly statements, hence my description of always being a Director in ‘name only’.

By now, boxes of computers were arriving at the Towers and Simon and Rachel were busy recruiting a team of animators to produce the episodes. 422 TV had produced the pilot episode, but Simon wanted his own in-house team and hence, the need for the proper infra structure to enable this. I met two more ex- Cosgrove Hall employees, who Simon had employed to take charge of the production, a husband and wife team called Danny and Helen Brown. Huge and complicated production schedules appeared on office walls, that detailed every step of each episode, together with expensive looking editing equipment. I found this all fascinating and ensured that I took photographs for the company archives. Occasionally, Brian would stop by to see how things were going and was always keen to discuss Pip with the animators and pose for a photograph, but his visits became less frequent and I guessed he might have been concerned at the rate of expenditure. I found the process of animation quite fascinating. They would start the episode with a script and a storyboard, followed by an ‘animatic’, or an animated version of the storyboard, usually black and white pencil sketches. Finally the animators would start work, some working on the characters and their expressions, others working on the backgrounds and vehicles. Interestingly, many of the characters were built as kits, rather like Mr Potato Head, which I would play with as a child. These character kits, would include all the expressions required for the animation, mouth, eyes, eye brows, hand, arm and leg movements and many more. Consequently, there was a great deal of up front work done in the early days to produce these character kits, but the animators could then call upon a sophisticated asset library of character parts, that would speed up the process as the episodes developed. I say ‘speed up’, but in actual fact, animation is anything but a speedy process. We were creating Pip in 2D and that was slow enough. Had we decided to animate in 3D, this would have cost a great deal more and taken additional production time. Faster computers, capable of rendering fur and waves (two difficult items), have made a big difference, but at the time of making Pip, we made the decision to keep things simple and I rather liked the simplicity of 2D anyway. CHF Entertainment had been formed to look after the production side of the business and therefore Pip PLC would sub contract the animation work for Pip Ahoy! to CHF Entertainment. I was not concerned at this arrangement, after all, the use of sub contracted labour is common in the creative industry and a flexible methof of ensuring you have the right creatives in place at the allotted time. For instance, it would be pointless having a team of animators sitting around, while scripts and storyboards were bing produced. As a Director, I was concerned at the lack of detail on inter-company invoices and raised this. a number of times at board meetings and AGMs. I was usually told that all costs were approved in the IM (Information Memorandum).

More voice-over sessions had been booked in Soho and I was told that Keith Hopwood had written a theme song for Pip. I had met Keith at the studio a few weeks earlier and recognised him as the guitarist from Herman’s Hermits - quite a band in their day. Apparently, Keith had continued to perform and compose music and was another contact from Cosgrove Hall days (we were now developing quite a team of ex Cosgrove Hall Films employees) Keith had written a number of the theme tunes to their animations, including The Wind in the Willows, the BFG, Pingu, Bob the Builder and many more. Clearly, Keith was a very talented man and I was delighted that he’s agreed to compose Pip’s them tune. Another surprise came, when Simon announced they had secured Stacey Solomon to sing it. Keith had formed a new company with Brian Simon, called CHF Music and this would handle all the rights and music content for the new shows, Pip being just one of them. Before the Soho session, Keith had arranged for some local school children to attend his studio, so that he could record them shouting ‘Pip Ahoy!’, as part of his theme tune. I was delighted to attend his studio called Pluto Music and take some more photographs of Keith and the children together. I was beginning to think we really did have a ‘dream team’ assembled to make Pip and it was a hugely exciting time.

The recording session with Stacey was great fun, with both Keith, Sir David Jason and the rest of the voice team in attendance. Having recorded the the theme tune song, Stacey went on to sing another tune that Keith had composed, called Fuchsia and the Flaming Pinks. Stacey plays the part of a cockney sounding pink flamingo called Fuchsia and her friends as the backing group. It was hilarious and great fun to watch.

While the production of Pip was progressing, the company needed a continuous stream of funding. We needed 26 episodes before any TV station would consider broadcasting Pip Ahoy! and we were therefore unable to sell any merchandise. It was rather like a new car on a very long production line, with us all waiting eagerly for it to enter the showroom and be sold to a customer. The man tasked with raising the money for Pip was Adrian Wilkins and his staff at CHF Enterprises in Bristol. They continued to sell shares in Pip by organising more fundraising events and taking some of them on tours of the animation studio in Didsbury. I found Adrian to be an interesting character and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him at first. I was certainly impressed by his world class achievements as a triathlete and he was clearly very hard working, being responsible for much of the IM and all the legal documentation associated with raising money via EIS. I guess IFAs do have a poor reputation with the general public, rather like Estate Agents and I was always a little suspicious at some of the projected income figures that were being bounded about. People talked in millions, rather than thousands and I can remember both Adrian and Martin (Keenhan) telling us that it was far easier to raise £5m than £500,000! The truth was that Adrian was working very hard to keep the money rolling into the production studio, which. had now developed huge overheads under Simon and Rachel’s control. I have always said that Adrian and his team had one of the hardest jobs within the CHF group of companies, so I admired his work ethic, if nothing else. I needn’t have worried. Adrian managed to raise the money and Simon’s team completed all 26 episodes of Pip Ahoy on time and on budget. We were ready for TV, but who would take this, as yet unknown and untested pre-school animation.

One of the most memorable fundraising events, was organised by Rachel. She was rumoured to posses a very extensive little ‘black book’ of contacts, one of whom just happened to run the Ritz in London. She arranged an evening of presentations, with Francis, Brian, Adrian, Sir David and many of the CHF staff in attendance. Francis was one of the first to speak, with his usual sprinkle of football and rugby anecdotes to boot. Adrian followed with the investment opportunity, with Sir David closing the speeches, much to everyone’s delight. Brain and Sir David then chatted with the well heeled crowd about Cosgrove Hall days, Danger Mouse and the new opportunity in front of them. One potential investor, a young chap, who I recognised for a previous event at the London Yacht club, suddenly appeared with a complete box st of Only Fools and Horses. Apparently, he a rushed out to buy it and was now in the process of asking Sir David to sign it. David was chatting to Brian and was happy to oblige and pose for a photograph for me. As I was taking the photograph of the two of them, we were suddenly ‘photobombed’ by someone. He turned out to be Dvid Jason’s personal physician and next door neighbour, called Saleem Goolamali. Little did I know that he and I would ‘cross swords’ on many occasions over the following years, regarding the running of Pip PLC. My son James and a friend called Lynne Dickens had attended the Ritz to help me with promotional literataure. Towards the end of the evening, Lynne spotted Sit David and asked him if her would agree to have a photograph taken with her. As I was about to take the picture, I spotted a huge crystal chandelier above the tow of them. ‘Look up’ I shouted, as I was about to take the shutter. It was a very funny moment, reminiscent of that classic Fools and Horses episode!

One of the reasons I had wanted to partner with Francis back in the days of The Salties, was because he knew the animation industry well having co-created his own show Jakers. As with anything in business, it is often the contacts that make the difference. I remembered watching people standing at a bar in Cannes, telling each other jokes. As Francis had explained, they were also selling worldwide rights to shows such as Doctor Who and Grand Designs. The TV world is a market where people meet to buy and sell TV shows. So it was that Francis introduced an old friend to CHF, a gentleman called Brendan Kelly. I instantly liked Brandan, for his no nonsense approach to anything associated with Pip PLC and it’s employees. If he didn’t feel that they were adding anything, he would say so and in no uncertain terms. Brandan also had a wealth of industry contacts from selling TV and Film around the world. He also had a good contact at Channel Five, who at the time, had the best children’s TV show, called Milkshake. Now that we had 26 episodes ‘in the can’, Pip needed to be seen on Milkshake, but it is very hard for a new and unproven show to be accepted. This is where Brendan came in. Apparently, he had been in the business since he was 16 and had excellent contacts Channel 5. If Brendan could secure a letter of intent to take Pip Ahoy! from them, this would make a huge difference to our prospects.

Having completed 26 episodes, I thought we might stop and monetise the shows, but it seemed we needed to now create an additional 26, taking us to to 52. But long terms, we would need to continue making shows to reach 78 eps and Francis told us, to break into American market, we really needed 104! I could’t quite take in all of these figures, the money required to make the shows and the effort required to monetise them during each stage. But I wasn’t used to the animation industry,. I was learning fast, but these people were experts in their field and I needed to trust their judgement.

Francis had organised a trip to see some new toys designs by a company called Carterbench and run by Rob Kay and Ross Worthington. I’d met Rob at an earlier design meeting, where he’d explained that it would be important to write the scripts with the toys in mind and he wanted to show us some early design a lighthouse, steam train and a telescope (called a Scopey Eye) The designs were quite superb and it was exciting to start to see them for the first time. I’d taken a framed limited edition print of Pip, that had had been signed by Brian and Sir David and I used it for as a prop for a photoshoot. We’d just finished the photography, when Rob asked me into his office and asked me a question. ‘Have you heard that Corrinne has been fired?’, he asked. Of course I hadn’t and I remember being quite shocked. Why would they remove Corrinne from the script writing team? I later heard she’d been involved in a disagreement with Ben and Simon, but it still didn’t seem right.

We received a huge boost to Pip Ahoy’s prospects, when Brandan came up trumps by announcing he had secured a letter of intent from C5 to broadcast Pip Ahoy! on Milkshake. But this wasn’t all - Brendan had also secured the all important early morning prime time slot of 7am. You have to remember that this is 2013 and in those days, pre-school children watched terrestrial TV at the allotted time, rather than watching a video on demand (VOD) vai Youtube or another streaming service, but more of this change later on. With the C5 letter of intent, Adrian was able to start raising money for the next 26 episodes and the L&M (licensing and merchandising) team at CHF could start exploring a master toy licence for Pip. Again, at this time, toys sales would be a very important part of Pip’s income, especially as broadcast fees were starting to reduce.

On the 1st July 2014 Pip Ahoy! broadcast for the very first time on British TV. It was an immensely proud moment for all concerned and by coincidence, Katie and I were in Salcombe to watch the very first show on the Milkshake channel. Simon had taken many of the CHF staff out for breakfast to a local restaurant and watch the 7am show go live on Milkshake. He later told me that everyone cheered when they saw it on screen - what an achievement from all concerned.

During my trips to the Towers, I would often wander around with my camera, taking pictures of the animators at work and watching new episodes of Pip take shape. One of my favourite rooms, was occupied by Ben Turner and his wife Jean - a kind of Aladdins’s Cave of all thinks creative, which I found utterly fascinating. Although their work was kept rather secret at this stage, I could see that Ben and Jean were working on a number of new animation projects, including some new ideas from Brian. CHF Entertainment, would need new shows after Pip to keep the freelancers busy, so it was clear that they would need many more shows in their portfolio. One of Ben’s ideas particularly caught my eye - it was called Horatio and appeared to be a 3D animation about a mad professor living in Big Ben - wonderfully mad and quite brilliant at the same time.

However, it was these additional shows that would cause me to have a major disagreement with him the next time we met. CHF Entertainment was based in Bristol and by now Adrian had recruited quite a large team of IFA’s and other investment companies who were prepared to add Pip Ahoy! to their list of recommended investments to their clients. As mentioned earlier, many of them were high net worth individuals, who liked the idea of having a more risky investment as part of their portfolio. Some of these people included pop singers and professional footballers, many with young children of Pip’s target audience. This coupled with the fact we had Sir David Jason, Stacey Solomon and a host of ex Cosgrove Hall employees, it must have been a very attractive proposition for them to consider.

The meeting in Bristol was held at the premises of Octagon Consulting, where Adrian rented an office. He’s booked the meeting room that day and had asked a number of consultants to present their ideas for the future funding of CHF. I was attending as a Director of Pip PLC and my only interest was to see Pip properly funded for the next series. I guess, you might think this was rather selfish, but I desperately wanted Pip to start selling merchandise and produce a dividend for the shareholders, many of whom were my friends. However, Adrian had plans for a brand new investment scheme, called the Media Fund that would allow future investors to spread their risk across a number of CHF shows, including Pip. I was aware that Ben Turner was developing a number of new shows and I understood that Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick could not exist on Pip Ahoy! alone, but I was angry at the timing. Adrian described how a number of SPVs (Special purpose vehicle), had been formed to handle each new show. In fact, each show was also a Limited company in its own right, with a lady called jean Hawkins as a Director of them all. Adrian continued my explaining that each SPV, would receive SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) funding of £100,000 per show, but I wasn’t really interested. I was angry that CHF Enterprises were now diverting their attention away from Pip’s next stage of funding and before we had even started to make any sales. I had a huge row with Adrian after the meeting, who tried to explain to me that Pip would still receive investments via the Media Fund and that CHF must be seen to be developing new shows, but I was not listening. I was angry and felt that people had started to lose interest in Pip.

My concerns were confirmed, when Simon approached me after a Board meeting one day. He looked quite shocked and worried, explaining that I didn’t think Pip PLC would be able to pay the animators wages that week. I was aware that the fundraising had faltered, but I had no idea that we were facing a cash-flow crisis. I felt useless as a Director, I had no role to play in the company and badly needed to return to my photographic business to start earning a living again. I tendered my resignation the next day, which Simon reluctantly accepted. I felt I needed a break from Pip and it wouldn’t the the first time that I would walk away.

Better news was around the corner, Francis had been able to negotiate a master toy licence with a company called John Adams Apparently, they’s really liked the designs produced by Carterbench and were prepared to invest a large amount of money to make them. The finished toys would be exhibited at the Toy Fair in London that year and I intended to make a visit with two investor friends. The team in Didsbury had also commissioned a Pip suit and it would prove very useful at future photo calls, especially as we’d been told that some of the presenters from Milkshake would be visiting John Adam’s stand. I may no longer be a Director and I’d cut down my visits to Manchester, but I still kept in touch with Simon and Francis and always read the press releases. I packed my cameras and headed off on the train to London. I met up with my friends Grant Ashley and Andy Fay, who had previously purchased shares in Pip and I was keen to show them the toys and give them the good news about the new toy licence. We would not be disappointed - The John Adam stand and the display of the new Pip Ahoy! toys was truly wonderful. There were sets of the characters, a huge lighthouse, Skipper’s boat, a working telescope (called Pip’s Scopey Eye) and some wonderful plush (soft toys) John Adams had lived up to their word and told me that they were also investing in a TV advert to accompany the launch.

One of the stores allocated for the Pip Ahoy! toy launch was a company called Symyths and I found they had a superstore near my studio in Milton Keynes. On the morning of the launch, I drove down the M1 to find the store on the outskirts of the city. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but guessed they would have all kinds of Pip promotional items as people entered the store and a large display of all the new toys. Perhaps, there would also be a large TV screen, previewing the first series of the shoe. My mind was racing and my camera was ready as usual. It wasn’t long before I found the store, which was indeed huge, so I expected great things. To my astonishment, there was nothing related to Pip in the entrance, or anywhere. Thinking I might have the wrong day for the launch I approached a young member of staff (they are all young!) and asked her if she knew about a Pip Ahoy! toy launch. Shrugging her shoulders and mumbling something that sounded like ‘neva heard of it’, I moved on to someone who looked as if they might be a little more senior. Yet again, I was told by the staff member that they hadn’t heard of Pip, so I asked if I could speak to the manger. The boy walked off towards the back of the store, so I assumed he was off to find someone who might know a little more. After about ten minutes, a lightly more responsible person arrived back and I asked the question about Pip Ahoy! again. This time, I received more positive news. The manager looking person, with no name told me that she’d seen some Pip toys on isle 6, area B and disappeared back through the small door at the back of the store. No matter, I was off to discover isle 6 and see the wonderful display (that nobody had heard about) for myself. After about another 5 minutes of walking past hundreds of huge plastic toys making all kinds of noises to attract the the young buyers, I arrived at area B and looked up and down the huge racks of boxes - no sign of Pip! Another staff looking boy was coming my way with a trolley full of toys. Surely, he would know where Pip was and he did! He pointed to a small display about a metre in width in the shadows on the bottom shelf. I felt gutted, took a quick picture and left.

Nobody could really explain the lack of toys at Smyths. It appeared to be down to a lack of a marketing budget, but nobody seemed to care too much. CHF had recently appointed a new marketing agency called Lisle Licensing and they would be exhibiting Pip Ahoy! on their stand at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) in London. This was great news and it felt as if I’d gone full circle, having first attended BLE with The Salties back in 2007. Sir David Jason had generously agreed to attend another press call with us, so my son James and I packed our cameras and headed off to London again. I’d met Colin Lisle and his daughter Francesca at a meeting at Didsbury previously and I’d been impressed with their credentials. With a TV broadcasting contract and a master toy licence, Lisle seemed enthusiastic to promote Pip Ahoy! to the wider world. James and I arrived at the stand and we were both pleased to see the Pip character suit was in action, walking up and down the isles with other well know animation characters, such as Bob the Builder and Postman Pat It wasn’t long before we found Lisle’s stand and could clearly see some nice big Pip graphics, that would be an ideal backdrop to any photographs or media interviews with Sir David. After a while, Simon appeared with Ben and we discussed the arrangements for Sir David’s photo call. We didn’t have to wait very long - Sir David is always impeccably punctual and was happy to chat to the throng of press journalists, who’d soon heard he was in the building. As he finished the interviews, a number of people asked for a photograph with Sir David, so I carefully positioned them front of a large Pip logo, for good measure. After a number while, a tall and good looking man walked onto the stand with a lady beside him and started to speak with Simon. It looked as if they knew each other quite well and he then approached me, hand outstretched. ‘Keith Chapman - any chance of a photo with David?’ he asked ….

Many years earlier, my friend Phil Garner (who had helped me design the Salties characters), had mentioned his friend Keith Chapman. The story was that Keith was a graphic designer, based in nearby Huntingdon. Short of work, one day he started doodling on his graphic board - a little chap in a builders hat…. It later became Bob the Builder and , as they say, the rest is history. Now hugely successful within the animation industry, Keith had previously commissioned Cosgrove Hall to make some of his shows, hence his connection with Simon. Seeing a photo opportunity, I quickly introduced Keith to Sir David and took the photo. It turned out to be a great day and well worth the trip. (To be continued)