Radio 390 at 5o Ted Allbeury

Ted Allbeury -

The Man and His Books

Credit for much of the success of Radio 390 is due to its unique format which was created by Public Relations cosultant Ted Allbeury. His consultancy - Allbeury, Coombes and Partners - had been asked by the directors of struggling offshore station, KING Radio, to come up with suggestions for improving the format, audience ratings and advertising revenue of the station.

Theodore (Ted) Edward le Bouthillier Allbeury was born in October 1917 and had a varied and eventful life, even before the launch of Radio 390. He had been a foundry worker, draughtsman, tool maker, Army intelligence officer with the Special Operations Executive, an advertising creative director, chicken farmer, dog breeder and PR consultant. After his involvement with Radio 390 (and, briefly, Radio 355) he maintained his career in public relations and also became a hugely successful author, writing over 40 novels under his own name as well as two pseudonyms (Richard Butler and Patrick Kelly).

Ted Allbeury was married 3 times and had one son and three daughters. He died on 4th December 2005, aged 88

Obituary 1 - The Guardian

Obituary 2 - The Times

Obituary 3 - The Independent

Bibliography

Appearance on Desert Island Discs 25th September 1979