Sir Peter Colin Michael (born 17 June 1938) is a British engineer and businessman whose interests include radio and wine-making. Peter Michael grew up in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, the son of Albert and Enid Michael. His father was the chairman of the London philatelic shop Stanley Gibbons. He was educated at Whitgift School.

Business career

After training as an engineer at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, he worked at Smith Industries and Plessey, before leaving in 1968 to set up his first company. He founded and managed a range of technology companies including Micro Consultants Group, UEI plc,

Cosworth Engineering Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

and

Quantel Quantel was a company based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1973 that designed and manufactured digital production equipment for the broadcast television, video production and motion picture industries. They were headquartered in Newbury, ...

. In 1983, he founded the Peter Michael Winery in the Knights Valley region of Calistoga, northern California. From 1989 to 1992 he served as CEO of Cray UK. In 1992 Sir Peter founded Classic FM.

Personal life

Michael was knighted in the 1989 Birthday Honours. His wife Margaret (Lady Michael) farms 1000 acres in Berkshire with arable cereals and a pedigree South Devon Red breeding herd. Peter has set up two charitable foundations dedicated to fighting prostate cancer, the Pelican Cancer Foundation (UK) and the Peter Michael Foundation (US). He also served as Vice-Patron of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Peter 1938 births Living people British technology company founders Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Businesspeople from London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English expatriates in the United States Knights Bachelor People from Croydon