Award-winning musician and businessman, David Wood, has received an Honorary Degree from Lancaster University.

One of four outstanding individuals chosen to receive the honorary award, the entrepreneur is a founder and director of two Morecambe-based music companies who between them have released tracks featuring world-class artistes Mint Royale, Stone Roses, George Michael, Lauren Laverne and Duffy, had UK chart hits (including a number 1 hit), had music on major Hollywood films, music on the adverts of world leading brands, and music on television programmes globally including ‘Chuck’, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and the title music for ‘The Inbetweeners’.

The co-founder and Chief Executive of Promenade Music, “one of the largest and best stocked music shops in the north of England”, also has a stake in 326 enterprises around the world and is the owner of twelve UK trademarks.

David said: “Receiving this esteemed recognition from Lancaster University is a tremendous honour. Being only the eleventh person to be awarded a Doctor of Music honoris causa since the formation of the University in 1964 and joining the previous DMus recipients [Sir Arthur Bliss; Witold Lutoslawski; Sir Michael Tippett; Dame Janet Baker; Sir John Manduell; Sir Edward Downes; Sir Simon Towneley; Yan Pascal Tortelier; Princess Alexandra; and Professor Edward Gregson] is incredibly flattering and humbling.”

He will receive his award alongside three more honorary degree recipients drawn from the world of management, NHS leadership and not-for-profit.

They are:

Dr Paul Jones

Paul graduated from Lancaster in 1990 with a BSc (Hons) and in 1995 with a PhD in Computer Science. He is the Chief Digital Information Officer of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, one of the largest hospitals in the country, where he leads a team of four hundred and fifty people delivering digital, information, programme, transformation, and record keeping services. He has held senior roles in the public and private sector including the Chief Technology Officer for the NHS in England, Chief Information Officer for the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board and Group CIO at Serco. During the pandemic he helped establish the Harrogate Nightingale hospital and lead the transformation of digital services in the hospital to support new ways of working.

Sarah Kemp

Sarah is currently a Trustee and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a Director of the First Light Festival Lowestoft, and a board member of the International Board of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She has previously been a Trustee and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Horniman Museum and Gardens, a Trustee of the Spitalfields Festival and a Feoffee of Cheetham’s Hospital and Library. Sarah was Chief Executive of the international educational charity and awarding body Trinity College London for thirteen years, before stepping down in 2021. Previously Sarah held international and national senior leadership roles in not-for-profit and commercial sectors, with a particular focus on publishing and content creation, and the performance arts.

Ann Langley

Ann Langley is Emerita Professor of management at HEC Montréal and Distinguished Research Environment Professor at HEC Montréal. She obtained her MA in operational research at University of Lancaster in 1972 and her PhD at HEC Montréal in 1987. Her research deals with strategic management processes and practices in complex organizations with an emphasis on qualitative research methods. She is currently Deputy Editor of Academy of Management Journal. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the British Academy, and the Academy of Management, and an Honorary Member of the European Group for Organizational Studies.