Known for co-founding the indie record label Creation Records, which he ran from 1983 to 1999, and Poptones, which he ran from 1999 to 2007.
He was heavily into punk rock and joined the band The Drains in 1978.
He signed Oasis to Creation Records, whose album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? became the best selling British album of the decade.
He married musician Kate Holmes in 1998.
He managed the British band The Libertines, led by frontman Pete Doherty.
