January 08, 2024 I Appointments
Focusrite’s Phil Dudderidge Receives OBE Award
Phil Dudderidge
Focusrite Group has announced that its chairman and founder, Phil Dudderidge, has received the honor of officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honors List. An OBE is awarded for having played a major local role in any activity, including people whose work has made them known nationally in their chosen area. In Dudderidge’s case, this commendation is in recognition of the contribution he’s made to the professional audio industry.
Dudderidge initially worked as Led Zeppelin’s touring sound engineer in 1970. He set up RSD Systems Ltd in a partnership of three in 1971, building bespoke P.A. systems with custom-built mixing consoles. This evolved into Soundcraft Electronics Ltd, a company specializing in live and studio-mixing consoles, which was sold to HARMAN International in 1988. Dudderidge acquired the assets of Focusrite in 1989 and rebuilt the business as Focusrite Audio Engineering. Focusrite Plc was formed in 2014 to take the group public on AIM. Dudderidge served as CEO of Focusrite from 1989 until becoming executive chairman in 2012, and then non-executive chairman of Focusrite Plc in January 2022.
The Focusrite Group has grown to include 13 industry-leading brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Novation, Ampify, ADAM Audio, Martin Audio, Optimal Audio, Linea Research Sequential, Oberheim, Sonnox, OutBoard and TiMax.
“I am honored, humbled and thrilled to have been awarded an OBE,” Dudderidge said. “This is not just an honor for me, but is recognition of all the incredible people I have worked with over the decades, particularly our amazing team at the Focusrite Group. Everybody attached to the Company has had a lot of faith to get us to where we are today and I’ve had so many people thank me for the opportunities they’ve had with both Soundcraft and Focusrite. I am most proud of the fact that both companies have provided opportunities for people to develop their careers. I am equally as grateful to all the employees, retailers, distributors and customers throughout the years. They are the ones who helped to build Focusrite to where it is today. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me over the years, but particularly my family and my wife, Jenny.”
