William was Chief Executive of Harrogate International Festivals for 15 years until November 2008. He is a highly experienced cultural entrepreneur who combines creativity and enthusiasm with commercial realism.
An innovative strategic advisor, he is a passionate advocate for increasing accessibility to cultural activities. He was responsible for a ll aspects of leading Harrogate International Festivals, including strategic policy, governance, programming development, major fundraising and financial management. When he started, Harrogate Festival was a stand-alone summer classical music event. By the time he left William had turned the summer festival into an international event presenting artists of all genres and developed the organisation into a year round cultural powerhouse.
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During this time he set up 5 new festivals and events; Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and Crime Novel of the Year; Harrogate International Sunday Series of classical coffee concerts; North Yorkshire Youth Music Action Zone leading this region-wide youth agency; Carnegie Sporting Words Festival in partnership with Leeds Metropolitan University and BBC Sport; H20 Festival of outdoor performance arts, a partnership with Yorkshire Water.
Prior to being appointed Chief Executive he was Festival Administrator at Harrogate from 1983 to 1989. William has been a board member of the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA) since 2004, and is a past board member of the British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA). He is a Visiting Fellow of Festivals, Culture and the Arts at Leeds Metropolitan University and is based in Harrogate.
With 25 years experience he is now an arts and cultural consultant specialising in strategic planning for public events and festivals, creative programming, fundraising and sponsorship across the cultural, social enterprise and corporate sectors.
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