TRIBUTES have been paid to the broadcaster Tim Grundy who has died.

Tim, 50, died in hospital on Sunday.

Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to a `talented broadcaster' who was also a `really nice guy'.

Brian Beech, who worked with Tim at Piccadilly Radio, said: "He was a good broadcaster and a good mate, and I'll miss him. Radio was in his blood."

Tim was born in Manchester in 1958. His father Bill Grundy was the Manchester broadcaster who had an infamous live run-in with the Sex Pistols in the 1970s.

He started his career as tea boy at Piccadilly Radio when he was 17. Some 16 years later he was the station's programme controller and Drivetime presenter.

During his time at the station he helped establish the career of Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans.

He also worked at BBC Pebble Mill and launched his own company to make history programmes for the Discovery Channel.

He was presenting on BBC Radio Manchester when he told the M.E.N. how he was lucky to survive after he suffered heart failure on the way home from holiday in 2006.

The presenter was clinically dead for more than four minutes before he was revived by doctors. He was in a coma for 13 days and spent two months in a specialist cardiac ward.

His health was being kept in check by a special defibrillator inside his chest, which was designed to restart his heart with an electric pulse should it fail again.

In October 2002, he launched radio station Reading 107 as the breakfast show host.

Radio DJ Mike Sweeney said: "Tim was a lovely guy, a good friend and a smashing colleague. I was genuinely shocked when I heard the news."

Lovely man


Another former colleague, DJ Dave Ward, said: "Tim was a great colleague. He was a lovely, lovely man and his death has left many people shocked. It makes us all think about our own mortality."

Henry Matthews, who worked at Piccadilly Radio for 20 years and later at BBC Manchester, said: "I've spoken to a number of former colleagues since hearing the news, and, like me, they have been absolutely shocked and devastated.

"Tim was a hell of a nice block, a considerate colleague and a nice guy. In the early days he stood in the shadow of his father, but it's testament to his skills and talent that he was able to step out of that shadow. He was an innovative and inventive broadcaster."

Tony Ingham, who launched Piccadilly Radio in 1974, said: "Tim was tremendously enthusiastic about everything he took on. He was very talented and just a really good bloke. It was really, really shocking to hear he had died."

Veteran politics correspondent Jim Hancock, who started his career at Piccadilly Radio, said: "I'm saddened and shocked by the news.

"It is not always easy to follow in your father's footsteps, but Tim was a fine broadcaster in his own right. He was very professional on air and a good friend to everyone he came across."

Dave Warwick, Tim's agent, said: "Not only was he a client, but he was also a really good friend as well. I never had a conversation with him that ended without him making me laugh. He was a really good broadcaster, but more than that, he was really nice guy."

John Ryan, managing editor of BBC Radio Manchester, said: "Tim did some shows for BBC Radio Manchester in 2007. His passion for the city was still very evident. We'd like to pass on our condolences to his family."