Rosemary Squire Collects Obe

Press Release

7 July 2008

ROSEMARY SQUIRE COLLECTS OBE

Rosemary Squire, Co-founder and Joint CEO of The Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG), received an Order of the British Empire medal from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace last Thursday.

An influential figure in the arts industry, Rosemary was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Theatre.

Rosemary co-founded ATG in 1992 and has spearheaded the company’s exponential growth. ATG is currently the largest theatre group in the West End and separately, the second largest in the UK regions, with a total of 23 venues. ATG is also one of the country’s foremost theatre producers and has been behind some of the most successful and innovative productions in Britain and internationally, including Guys and Dolls, Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!, The Rocky Horror Show and most recently Neil LaBute's Fat Pig currently playing at Trafalgar Studios.

In 2007, ATG opened a New York office as part of the company’s expansion in the United States and announced productions for Europe and Australia. This year, ATG opened Australian productions of The Rocky Horror Show in Sydney and Guys and Dolls in Melbourne. Rosemary is a member of the Theatrical Management Association and a board member of Dance Umbrella, the UK’s foremost international contemporary dance festival. She also served on the Arts Council of England Lottery Advisory Panel for five years.

In June 2005, when Rosemary was the first democratically elected President of SOLT, she became the second only female President in the organisation’s 100-year history. As President, Rosemary has campaigned fearlessly to improve the West End theatre-going environment and to secure vital funding for capital improvements to protect the long-term future of London’s historic theatres.

A full-time working mother, Rosemary won the prestigious CBI Real Business First Women Award for Tourism and Leisure in June 2006, recognising her outstanding commercial success and the breakthroughs she made in promoting equal opportunities for women (especially at senior management level), flexible working and promotion from within the company.

Rosemary Squire, spoke of her appointment on Thursday: “It is a tremendous honour and privilege for me to receive this award at Buckingham Palace today and to have my family here with me makes the occasion very special indeed. I’m extremely proud of the pioneering work that ATG has achieved over the past 15 years and it is wonderful that the company and the industry have been recognised in this way.”

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For further information please contact David Bradbury, ATG Group Press Officer on 07884 067 455 or email [email protected]