An Eccentric English Gentleman

One of the problems facing Jim Morewood’s move back to the UK is having to change the name of his company.

He set up his own Gothenburg-based agency called English Gent Organisation when he left the Live Nation-owned EMA Telstar at the beginning of 2005 but is now having to drop the banner to comply with UK laws.

“Apparently, having ‘English’ in the name can be taken to mean the company has some approval or even Royal patronage,” Morewood told Pollstar. His firm will now be known as the Eccentric Gent Organisation.

He said the new name is as near as he could get to the old one in terms of sound and meaning.

“It’s possible to ask the Home Secretary for special dispensation to use the word English in a company name, but I didn’t think I’d go down that route,” he said, at a time when nobody knew who the next Home Secretary would be.

Morewood, whose seven-year stay in Sweden was preceded by spells at London agencies including the now defunct Prestige Talent, Helter Skelter, International Talent Booking and Mean Fiddler, says moving home to the UK will give him a better platform to expand the company.

He said he has an open mind about whether the growth would come through hiring more agents to work alongside his Swedish assistant Yerry Stetter, who’s also moving from Gothenburg to the UK, or from merging with a similarly sized agency.

Apart from helping him grow a roster that includes HIM, The Rasmus, Backyard Babies, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Hammerfall, Hardcore Superstar and Clawfinger, he says being UK-based will rid him of the increasing cost of flying to London about a couple of times each month.

He said he expects to visit the UK twice before the end of May, before returning in June to see seven of the acts he represents at Download Festival.

His move back to the UK is scheduled for June 23.