When I woke up early to my phone ringing continuously on July 28th 2008 it was to discover that the Pier at WSM was on fire. My friends Kerry & Michelle Michael had purchased the Pier earlier that year and just the three of us had walked around together one cold Sunday afternoon before Kerry & his sister Michelle proceeded with the purchase in February 2008. We spoke on the phone for several minutes with Kerry stuck in Spain and us both watching the blaze on our respective televisions. A dream going up in flames, I knew then that Kerry would rebuild it regardless of cost.

I knew just how much the Pier meant to Kerry, who as a young boy living in his Dads hotel across the bay, it was a dream of his fathers to one day own the icon. Kerry would look at it from his bedroom window and dream about owning it himself. In February 2008 that dream became a reality for a man who’s skill and tenacity as a businessman is legend amongst his friends.

So with this backdrop of friendship between us going back many years it was with a big smile that I learnt of the judgment before Christmas awarding damages to the Michaels against System 2 Security. Unfortunately it appears that company has gone into liquidation so Michelle & Kerry may get nothing-watch this space though because these are not people who will give up and the directors and insurers of that company may well find themselves pursued personally.

Having spent £51M on reconstructing the pier for the Town of Weston-Super-Mare both Kerry & Michelle deserve the MBE’s given to them in 2012. Never has the phrase “they deserve a medal” been more appropriately used.