Gerard Paul Richardson born 4 January 1962 in

Cleator Moor Cleator Moor is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England, within the historic county of Cumberland. It had a population of 6,936 at the 2011 census. Below Dent Fell, the town is on the Coast to Coast Walk that spans Northern England. ...

was the founder and CEO of the International Maritime Festivals which ran in

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

from 1999 to 2013. He is also an author of two recipe books with Jean Christophe Novelli four local history books about Whitehaven &

West Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

and a businessman in the town. He has served as a

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

since 1994 and was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for Cumbria on 29th April 2022 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

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 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. 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.

Awards and honours

He was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the Civil Division Medal for services to Cumbrian Tourism and services to the Community in the 2011 New Years Honours List. Cumbrian News Lifetime Achievement in Business award 2012 Cumbria Community Heroes Lifetime Achievement award 2015 Commended by the United States Ambassador to the UK in 2010 for furthering relations between the UK and USA He was Appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

on 18 April 2022. This gave him the

Post Nominal Letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

"DL" for Life.

After retirement

He runs Richardson's of

, a wine and coffee merchants, in the town and is working on his first novel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, George British male non-fiction writers 1962 births Living people 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers People from Cleator Moor 20th-century British businesspeople 21st-century British businesspeople Members of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Cumbria