1946-2026
From shorthand typist to key roles in organising leading UK and international motorcycle shows, Irene Yedd died in April aged 79.
Best known for organising the International Motorcycle Show – later Motorcycle Live and now known as MCL – as managing director of the Motor Cycle Industry Association’s show division, she turned it from a loss maker to profit.
“Irene managed to be firm in a tough man’s world but remain popular with all,” says former Triumph development engineer and now president of the Motor Cycle Industry Executive Club, Norman Hyde. “She turned loss-making shows into the extravaganzas we have now, working her way up to be CEO of the show. Not an easy task.”
Current NEC MCL organiser Finlay McAllan says he learned the ropes of show business thanks to Irene, who took him on at the MCIA.
“She was unique,” says McAllan. “She made things easy for people. She was decisive, could solve problems, and do it all in a quiet manner.”
Born in Birkenhead on the Wirral, Irene and her younger sister Evelyn moved to Coventry, their father switching from shipyard work to the aircraft industry. Irene left school at 16 and worked at Rootes Group cars as a shorthand typist and office junior. Seeking adventure, aged 18, she headed to Jersey to live with a friend. There she secured a position with a firm of solicitors, doing bar work in the evenings.
After eight years, she returned to Coventry and joined a temping agency. This resulted in a position with the Motor Cycle and Cycle Association at Starley House as personal assistant to exhibitions organiser Jean Simmons, initially on the bicycle side. When mentor Simmons left, Irene stepped into her shoes. She liked the work and had a flair for organisation.
This led to Irene becoming the managing director of MCI Exhibitions, organising her first major motorcycle show at Earls Court in the 1980s and managing large numbers of casual staff. She organised all key MCIA shows, including the NEC, London Excel, and British pavilions at shows in America, Germany and Italy.
In 2003, she resigned from the industry and briefly joined Marks and Spencer, thanks to a love of clothes and shoes.
In 2013, she suffered a stroke from which she never recovered. Sister Eve and Eve’s husband, John, cared for her from then on. She died on 15 April; her funeral was held at Canley, Coventry, on 7 May.