Gerard Richardson (author)

Gerard Richardson MBE [1] born 4 January 1962 in Cleator Moor was the founder and CEO of the International Maritime Festivals [2] which ran in Whitehaven from 1999 to 2013. He is also an author of two recipe books with Jean Christophe Novelli[3] four local history books about Whitehaven[4] & West Cumbria and a businessman in the town. He has served as a Magistrate since 1994.

Gerard Richardson
Royal Visit to Whitehaven 2008

He joined the Royal Navy as an Naval Air Engineer in 1981 and served until 1986 when he joined Sellafield, serving primarily as a Fireman. During this period he planned the Maritime Festivals, staging what was intended to be a one off event for up to 10,000 people in 1999. When an estimated 80,000 turned up, the Maritime Festival Company which ran the event decided to stage it every two years.

He is a drinks columnist for a number of Newquest newspapers in the UK [5][6]

Whitehaven Maritime Festival Company

The festivals were held in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and then annually until 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, the company organised two Home and Garden Festivals, a First World War Parade[7] with air shows, and their final event was the Western Lakes Film Festival in June 2015. The latter event is credited with the temporary re-opening of the town's only cinema, the Gaiety, which closed 12 years earlier.[8]

In addition to his work with the festivals, he also organised a number of other events during the same period. He announced his retirement from events in 2015, and the Festival Company closed down in 2016.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Awards and Honours

Member of the Order of the British Empire[22][23] Medal for services to Cumbrian Tourism and services to the Community 2011

Cumbrian News Lifetime Achievement in Business award 2012 [24][25]

Cumbria Community Heroes Lifetime Achievement award 2015 [26][27][28]

Commended by the United States Ambassador to the UK in 2010 for furthering relations between the UK and USA [29]

After retirement

He runs Richardson's of Whitehaven, a wine and coffee merchants, in the town and is working on his first novel.[30][31]

References
  1. "Cumbria today interview".
  2. "Lakestay web".
  3. "Lakeland Web news".
  4. "waterstones".
  5. "Expert shares seocrets". North West Evening Mail. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. Lacie-Davidson, Mattie (6 October 2018). "The only two kinds of sherry". East London & West Essex Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. "Cumbria Crack". December 2013.
  8. "Whitehaven News". May 2015.
  9. "In Cumbria". October 2015.
  10. "BBC News". 2005.
  11. "Copeland Council grant forum" (PDF). June 2002.
  12. "BBC News archive". July 2005.
  13. "News and Star". August 2006.
  14. "BBC News". June 2008.
  15. "Northumberland Gazette". June 2008.
  16. "News and Star". June 2008.
  17. "News & Star". August 2008.
  18. "WesternLakeland web site". June 2010.
  19. "Cumberland News". December 2014.
  20. "Copeland Council archive".
  21. "News and Star". May 2015.
  22. "Evening news".
  23. "Cumberland & Westmorland Herald". Cumberland&Westmorland Herald. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
  24. "Times & Star". November 2015.
  25. "Cumbrian News".
  26. "Whitehaven News". November 2015.
  27. "Times and Star". November 2015.
  28. "Cumbria today topical news website".
  29. "Lakestay". lakestay.co.uk. 2013.
  30. "Richardsons of Whitehaven Shop website". May 2017.
  31. "InCumbria".
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