Gerard Richardson (author)

Gerard Paul Richardson MBE DL[1] born 4 January 1962 in Cleator Moor was the founder and CEO of the International Maritime Festivals[2] which ran in Whitehaven from 1999 to 2013.

During this period he planned the Maritime Festivals, staging what was intended to be a one off event for up to 10,000 people in 1999.

When an estimated 80,000 turned up, the Maritime Festival Company which ran the event decided to stage it every two years.

The latter event is credited with the temporary re-opening of the town's only cinema, the Gaiety, which closed 12 years earlier.

He runs Richardson's of Whitehaven, a wine and coffee merchants, in the town and is working on his first novel.