Congratulations to David Pickard (m.1979) and Peter Flinn (m.1966) who have been named in the King's Birthday Honours 2025, which recognises the achievements and contributions of people across the UK.

David has received an OBE for services to music and Peter was awarded an MBE for services to engineering.

Last year David stepped down as Director of the BBC Proms after nine years in the role, where he was praised for improving the diversity of the artists and composers involved in the Proms. Prior to this, David was General Director at international opera house Glyndebourne and CEO at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Commenting on the news, David said: “It means an enormous amount to me to be recognised in this way after working in the arts for many years. After graduating from Corpus I managed to get a job typing up the rehearsal schedule for the Royal Opera Company. I never thought it would lead to the career I have been lucky enough to enjoy!

“Running three very special organisations - the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Glyndebourne and the BBC Proms - has really been a dream come true. It is a tough life working in the arts - whether as a performer or an administrator - but it can be extremely rewarding. You need to have plenty of resilience, but if you can cope with the ups and downs, it is a wonderful career.”

Peter has over 50 years of experience in the engineering and manufacturing industry, his career includes design and development work on military aircraft and commercial vehicles which led to becoming managing director in several large manufacturing businesses. He is known for his work at the interface of industry, government, and academia, and played a key role in commercialising new manufacturing technologies. 

In 2021, Peter was appointed 136th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), which he has been actively involved with for over 30 years. 

Reflecting on his long career, Peter says a highlight was “setting up the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), Catapult Network and ATI, and more importantly the fact that they are all still going and very successfully. Although a long time ago, getting a First in Mechanical Sciences was quite special too.

“I am of course very pleased to have been recognised, the most important thing is the public recognition for personal efforts over quite a long period.” 

Peter’s guidance for those starting out as engineers, “If I’m asked for advice, I always finish off by saying you should ‘learn how to get stuff done’.”

Picture (of David Pickard) credit: Chris Christodoulou