Senior staff
Director
Executive team

David became director of National Museums Liverpool in 2001. Since his arrival he has supervised the completion of two major capital projects; the £45 million Into The Future project, which included major refurbishment in the Walker Art Gallery and World Museum Liverpool, and most recently the opening of the new International Slavery Museum. He is currently overseeing the creation of the new £72 million Museum of Liverpool. Since he became Director of National Museums Liverpool audiences have more than trebled, rising from around 700,000 per year to more than 2.7 million.
Before arriving in Liverpool, David was director of the multi-award-winning Tyne and Wear Museums for 11 years, where he led teams delivering major capital developments (including Newcastle Discovery Museum, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens and Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum) and massive audience growth. Prior to that he was principal keeper at Hull Museums, where his major projects included a new Transport Museum and The Old Grammar School. He started his museum career as founder-curator of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, York.
David is a past President of the UK Museums Association and has served on several Government committees and task forces. In 2002 he was named in the Independent on Sunday as one of the ten leading people in UK museums. He was awarded an OBE in the 1997 New Years Honours List for services to museums.
He sits on a number of boards and governing bodies, and is currently:
David has published extensively and has lectured worldwide in more than twenty countries on museum management and leadership, and city history museums.
The following presentations, conference papers and speeches by David are available to read on this website: