[4] The Century brand with a high speech content ratio became successful, with other stations subsequently launched in Nottingham and Salford.
[5] He left when Kelvin MacKenzie took over the station after CLT sold to the Mirror Group in November 1998, and was escorted from the building by security officers on the takeover.
[citation needed] He then moved onto London's LBC programming an all talk and phone-in format with which he had become so familiar.
[5] The Group grew quickly launching Real Radio Yorkshire followed by the acquisition of Jazz FM in London and the North West and then Saga Radio in the East & West Midlands, Glasgow and the North East.
[5] In October 2006, the group acquired the Century brand from GCap Media, and in December 2006 Simons received a Fellowship from The Radio Academy,[6] "an award to recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry.