In her citation, Dr. Maud Tyler, Provost of the Harrow Campus of the School of Communications and Creative Industries, recognized the lifetime achievements in the music industry. Ken Achard was born in 1942 and educated at Lewes County Grammar School. A veteran of 38 years in the music business, he became an acknowledged authority on vintage guitars in the early seventies, publishing one of the first works of reference on the subject - The History and Development of the American Guitar - in 1978. A long-standing business and personal relationship with Hartley Peavey started in 1973 when Achard became one of the initial export distributors for American music and sound equipment manufacturer, Peavey Electronics. In 1976, Peavey Electronics Ltd was incorporated in the UK and Ken Achard was appointed managing director, a position which he has held to this day. During that time the brand has grown in importance not only in the UK, but throughout Europe. A pan-European distribution operation has been created in recent years at Peavey's headquarters in Corby.
Ken Achard was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in 1997 after 21 years of membership. He was then admitted to the Worshipful Company of Marketors, became a Freeman of the City of London and subsequently a Liveryman in the Company. For 23 years a Member of the Council of the Music Industries Association (MIA), Achard has worked tirelessly to promote music in education, supports the Prince's Trust initiatives working with young people through music, and is a Trustee of the industry charity Music for All. He has served as a governor of Corby's Brooke-Weston City Technology College, actively supports the Guitar Institute in London and numerous other college and University music programmes.
Speaking after the ceremony Ken Achard said: "I am honoured and humbled by this award, especially coming, as it does, from one of the country's leading Universities and without doubt the leading place of learning when it comes to electronic music and audio techniques for the creative industries. The award is as much for Hartley Peavey and the entire team who share the passion for music in education."
