Paul Ruddock

Written evidence submitted by Sir Paul Ruddock (HS 05)

Thank you for inviting me to submit my views about making the honours system more transparent, and whether the reasons for awarding the most senior honours should be made public.

Background

I was awarded a Knighthood for Services to the Arts in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List. I have been involved with philanthropic work in the UK for over 20 years. I believe that philanthropy is about four things: giving your time, giving your skills, using your contacts for the benefit of the charity, and giving money.

I have also been a regular donor to the Conservative Party over the last nine years. In my professional life, I am the co-founder and CEO of an alternative investment management firm, Lansdowne Partners Ltd.

The award of my knighthood received some media attention during the New Year period. In my opinion, increased transparency for the awarding of honours may facilitate a greater understanding and appreciation of why honours have been made.

Increasing published information

I would recommend that more information is included in the New Year Honours List to explain the reasons as to why individuals are being honoured. In my own case, specific details of my contribution to cultural institutions in the UK may have served to dispel the notion that the award was related to political donations. Fundamentally, the honours system serves a purpose – to recognise individuals for their significant contributions to the society of this country. The more open and transparent the system is as to why these honours are granted, the greater the system will be respected and valued.

Supplementary information

For the reference of the Committee, my wife and I have been contributors to over 20 cultural and artistic  institutions and charities including the V ictoria & A lbert Museum, the British Museum, the Donmar Warehouse, the Courtauld Institute for Art, Mousetrap Theatre Projects, the National Trust, and  a new Performing Arts Centre at King Edward’s School, Birmingham.

I have been particularly involved with the following institutions:

1) Victoria and Albert Museum:

I have been closely involved with the V&A for nearly twenty years, both financially and through participation on various museum committees.  I have been a Trustee of the Museum since 2002 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees by the Prime Minister in 2007. I was re-appointed for a second term in November 2011.

I have assisted with some of the most significant and successful fundraising projects the museum has undertaken in recent years. Over the last twelve years the Museum has raised £130 million for the renovation and redisplay of its galleries and collections.

I have served on many V&A committees including the British Galleries Committee and as Chair of the Trustees’ Finance and Development Committees. In addition to chairing the Museum’s Board I also currently Chair the Gilbert Trust for the Arts and donated significantly to the renovation of the museum’s Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. In the ten years that I have been a trustee and Chair of the V&A, attendance at the Museum has increased to 2.9 million annual visitors, the highest in the museum’s 155 year history (in 2000 the attendance was only 829,000). This makes it the 14th most visited art museum in the world. Within the UK it has consistently been ranked amongst the top 10 most visited tourist attractions. The Museum has been transformed from ‘the nation’s attic’ to one of the most vibrant and successful museums in the world.

2) British Museum:

I have supported the British Museum by donating funds to restore the Later Medieval Gallery which includes the iconic Lewis Chess set. The renovated Gallery opened in 2009 to huge critical acclaim. I am also donating to the renovation of the early Medieval Galleries which include the Sutton Hoo treasure and which are due to open in late 2013.

3) Courtauld Institute for Art:

I have been a long term supporter and am funding research projects at the Institute, which is the leading Art History university in the world.

Source

He may be worth nearly £300 million but he hasn’t forgotten the Birmingham school which kick-started his rise to the top.

And now Sir Paul Ruddock has paved the way for more student success at his alma mater with a £10 million arts centre.

The financier, who was knighted for services to the arts in the most recent New Year Honours, is a key benefactor behind the new performing arts centre at King Edward’s School in Edgbaston.

Named the Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Centre, the building will be shared with the neighbouring King Edward VI High School for Girls.

The project is just weeks away from completion and will be officially opened by Education Secretary Michael Gove later this month.

An Oxford graduate, Solihull-born Sir Paul has long been a supporter of his old school, which has raised £10 million in recent years for building work and a scheme to fund school places for poorer students.

In an exclusive interview with the Birmingham Post, Sir Paul revealed how receiving a scholarship to King Edward’s in 1969 proved to be a turning point in his life.

“My father was a civil servant, my mother was a teacher and I went to my local junior school,” he said.

“I got a scholarship and the school was an inspiration for me. I had fantastic teachers and fantastic opportunities in areas like sport, music, theatre and drama.

“That gave me a platform for my passions later in life. Not only did it help me to get into university and in my career, but it opened up my mind to history and the arts.

“I’ve no clue where I would be now if I had not got the scholarship, but King Edward’s has always been one of the great academic schools in this country and I just wanted to say thank you.”

Up to 100 staff have been working around the clock on the performing arts centre ahead of the April 27 opening. The din of hammers and drills will be replaced with the sound of music, with facilities including a 400-seater concert hall with room for an 80-piece orchestra, plus drama and dance studios.

Sir Paul’s knighthood aroused controversy as he is also a Tory donor until it became clear his honour was for services to the arts and education.

Co-founder of hedge fund company Lansdowne Partners, he has been the chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum since 2007 and has donated many tens of millions of pounds to the institution as well as supporting the British Museum, Oxford University and his old school.

King Edward VI High School for Girls head teacher Sarah Evans said the centre would benefit all students, not just those with a talent for the arts.

She said: “We have all these incredibly talented young people and we have had very limited facilities for them in the past.

“Suddenly, we are moving from that into a state-of-the-art space for them. The opportunities for students on the technical side will be incredible.

“And it will give those young people who maybe don’t want to be the stars of the show the chance to use professional equipment you would only usually get in theatres.”

Sir Paul said: “It’s not just about being the star, its about having as many children as possible participating in music and theatre and dance.

“I was in school plays when I was here, and frankly, I was pretty awful.

“I played violin for seven years and I still sounded horrendous at the end. But the school gave me a love of theatre, of the arts and music, and gave me that exposure to be able to learn and find where talents lie.”

The performing arts centre is part of a £20 million building programme at King Edward’s to improve existing facilities for teaching, music drama and sport.

Work is set start in the summer on a new £5 million centre, which will house the modern languages department and a new sixth form centre, as well as the extension and revamp of existing science laboratories.

Half of the money for the new languages centre was donated by an anonymous ex-pupil, in what was believed to be one of the largest single donations made to any UK school.

Former pupils have also been generous in helping King Edward’s assisted places scheme, which helps families on lower incomes afford the £10,000-a year fees.

King Edward’s is one of 80 independent schools calling for additional state help to pay the fees of bright youngsters from deprived backgrounds.

It is supporting a new Open Access scheme, proposed by education charity the Sutton Trust, which pushes for “needs blind” school admissions – with children winning places based on ability, not parental income.

If given the go-ahead, it could pave the way for 30,000 children being awarded places.

King Edward’s chief master John Claughton said he had been “deluged” with applications for the assisted places programmes.

He said: “We do not want to be a private school, we do not want to be separate.

“Next September, we will have 35 boys or more coming on assisted places, and 25 or so will be coming here for free.

“We would welcome anything we could do to increase that number.’’

He added: “We had 600 applicants this year, of whom more than 300 were for an assisted place.

“We have raised an awful lot of money over the past two or three years but there are still boys who pass the examination but have not got the funds.

“Putting money into selective schools may seem politically difficult – but all it is doing is bringing these kind of schools into the world of education.”

Source: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/newsaggregator//2012/04/06/hedge-fund-boss-backs-10m-arts-centre-king-edward-s-school-edgbaston-65233-30696552/2/

ONE of the richest men in the Midlands is giving pupils at his old school a helping hand by backing a new £10 million arts centre.

Sir Paul Ruddock, who is now worth nearly £300 million, is a key benefactor behind the new performing arts centre at King Edward’s School, in Edgbaston.

The venue will be named the Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Centre, in honour of the financier, who was knighted for services to the arts in the 2012 New Year Honours.

It will be shared with the neighbouring King Edward VI High School For Girls.

The project is just weeks away from completion, and will be officially opened by Sir Paul and education secretary Michael Gove at the end of this month.

Solihull-born Sir Paul revealed that receiving a scholarship to King Edward’s in 1969 proved to be a turning point in his life. The hedge fund chief, who has also been the chairman of the Victoria And Albert Museum since 2007, said: “My father was a civil servant and my mother was a teacher, and I went to my local junior school.

“I got a scholarship, and the school for me was an inspiration. Not only did it help me to get into university and in my career, but it really opened up my mind to history and the arts.

“King Edward’s has always been one of the great academic schools this country has, and I just wanted to say thank you.”

The new arts centre – which boasts a 400-seater concert hall and room for an 80-piece orchestra, plus a drama studio and dance studio – is part of a £20 million building programme at King Edward’s.

Work is also set start in the summer on a new £5 million sixth-form and modern languages centre.

Half the cash for the new languages centre was donated by an anonymous ex-pupil, in what is believed to be one of the largest single donations made to any UK school.

King Edward VI High School head teacher Sarah Evans said: “We have all these incredibly talented young people and we have had very limited facilities for them in the past. Suddenly, we are moving from that into a state-of- the-art space for them.”