I was close to John simply because I liked him as a person. He liked me as a person. We spent a lot of times at one another's houses back in Liverpool. We spent a lot of time together in Germany.

The ship docked in Liverpool on 25 December 1945. Hutchison filled in as drummer at short notice when Best didn't turn up on the evening of his dismissal and played a further two bookings until Starr joined the group. The two went to The Grapes pub in the same street as the The Cavern Club where the group had often played.

He has been married for over 50 years to Kathy Best; they have two daughters and four grandchildren. After working in a number of commercially unsuccessful groups Best gave up the music industry to work as a civil servant for twenty years before starting the Pete Best Band.