Colin Tweedy, Chief Executive of Arts & Business, names the people whove inspired him in his career.
Sheila Colvin
I first met Sheila sitting on a friends bed. She turned to me and asked What do you do? When I replied that I worked in the City, but originally worked in the arts, she immediately persuaded me to get my clients to sponsor the Edinburgh Festival where she worked. Without that chance encounter, I would not be doing the job that I have been doing for the past 22 years. Sheila is a visionary arts manager, with passion, courtesy and a commitment for the arts that should be a model for everyone.
Sir Ernest Hall
Sir Ernest Hall, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is a guru for many people in the arts. For many years he has pioneered the concept of the arts as a cornerstone for urban regeneration, using Dean Clough in Halifax as a model throughout the world. Ernest makes the very best speeches, combining erudition and a poetic insight that is quite electrifying. He is President of the Arts & Business office in Yorkshire and no one represents the concept of the arts and business working together better than him.
Joyce Hytner
Joyce is always irritated when I call her the Jimmy Saville of the arts world. But with links at the Royal Court, LAMDA, the Old Vic and ACT IV, her contacts are legendary. You can ask Joyce to do anything or to answer any question and she always knows the right response. Joyce is at the centre of so many cultural and social webs and no dinner, no cocktail party and certainly no restaurant can call itself smart and fashionable unless Joyce is eating there. Joyce is not only a brilliant fundraiser, but she is also a superb networker and is a model to anyone trying to make the arts hip and fun.
John Kao
I first met John Kao when he gave the Arts & Business Week lecture at the Royal Society of Arts some years ago. John was introduced to me by Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive of WPP, who said he was a brilliant guru on the subject of creativity. John was then Professor of Creativity at Harvard Business School. That is indeed true and John has become a firm friend as well as being a Vice President of Arts & Business. John was the person who gave me the confidence to realise the arts can indeed unlock the creativity inherent in any business.
Thelma Holt
I first met Thelma Holt, the theatre producer, when she worked with my partner at the National Theatre. Thelma Holt is a legend in her own lifetime. The only person known to have coaxed Robert Maxwell to give money to the arts and whose energy and enthusiasm for theatre is matched by her wicked and somewhat blue sense of humour. The theatre, like all the arts, is made up of strong personalities, but there is no stronger character in British Theatre than Thelma.