“My career has largely been about managing large public sector organisations most of which have had education responsibilities. Running the University of the Arts London brought home to me the importance of creativity, the arts and performance in education. Artis is breaking new ground in these areas and I am proud to be an Ambassador.”

A lifelong public servant, Michael Bichard spent thirty years in local and central government. He was Chief Executive of both Brent and Gloucestershire councils and in 1990 became Chief Executive of the Government’s Benefits Agency. From 1995 he was Permanent Secretary of the Employment Department, later the Department for Education and Employment. Michael received a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 1999. In May 2001 he left the Civil Service and became Rector of the University of the Arts in London for the following 7 years. Since then he moved on to direct the new Institute for Government, Chair the Design Council and The Globe Theatre. Lord Bichard was chair of the National Audit Office from 2012-2015 and is currently the Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire. He entered the House of Lords as a Crossbench Peer in 2010.