Peter Starbuck was born in 1936 in Birmingham, England. He served his National Service in the Royal Engineers based in Hameln, Germany from 1959 to July 1961 ( the Berlin Wall was built in August 1961). On resuming his career he qualified as a Quantity Surveyor and joined the international construction contractor Sir Alfred McAlpine, further qualifying in building management and general management.

Relocating in 1963 to the Border town of Oswestry in Shropshire to manage a local contractor and house builder, he progressed 3 years later with to form in partnership his own construction, training and house-building business, WSJ, - the first of many entrepreneurial endeavours to come. WSJ constructed schools, hospitals and housing totalling 5,000 home. It also trained managers and apprentices, and through the Manpower Service Commission Scheme over 1,000 building trade workers were trained and subsequently found employment. In 1987, WSJ was sold to a public property company BHH - at the time controlling five million square feet of predominantly industrial property. Peter joined BHH as a Strategy Director interfacing with City institutions. BHH was subsequently sold in 1991 to IM Properties at which time Peter left to pursue his own entrepreneurial activities.

In 1974, he became aware of the works of Peter Drucker when he read ‘Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices’. He became an immediate follower of Drucker’s ideas to which he found he could relate to in a practical sense. He considered Drucker’s ideas were applicable to all the business, public and charitable organisations he was involved with in education, health, social housing, training and the water industry. What he had discovered in all the organisations he was involved with was that the application of Drucker’s ideas helped them to succeed, he resolved to read all Drucker’s books and promote the principles and practices he believed were essential for managers to employ.

In 1992 he entered into investment organisation enabling him to devote half of his time to studying the works of Drucker and other management thinkers. Eventually these studies led to the submission of his thesis on the Genesis of Drucker’s ideas to The Open University Business School and their subsequent award of a Doctorate of Philosophy for his contribution to the furtherance of knowledge on Drucker’s European influences. The outcome is that he is now acknowledged as an expert on the works of Drucker. He was described by Derek Pugh - Emeritus Professor of International Management at the Open University Business School, as “the leading British writer on the subject”.

Peter is a Visiting Research Fellow to the Open University Business School, and a Researcher and Contributor on Management to the British Library. He holds fellowships with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institute of Building and the Chartered Management Institute and his Doctorate from The Open University Business School.

In 2012 he was appointed Chairman of the newly-formed Drucker Society London linked to the Drucker Society Europe of Vienna and to the Drucker Institute in Claremont, California, that facilitates worldwide links to Drucker related organisations.

In 2014 he was invited by Jeewan Ramlugun to join the team at PMN Global, the international lecture group (http://www.pmnglobal.ch), as its management expert. PMN Global’s objective is to develop management globally with particular emphasis on African countries.

Also in 2014, Peter was appointed: Visiting Professor to the University of Chester with his Drucker research material being incorporated into the syllabus. Chester University was instrumental in the formation of University Centre Shrewsbury and Peter has subsequently been appointed a Founding Visiting Professor at the college. His Drucker-related research library has been dedicated and housed within the university, this will form an important element of the new Centre for Sustainable Business and Community Development, with its focus on innovation, enterprise, creative thinking, and leadership.

At the City Hall in Vienna in November 2015, Peter was awarded the Certificate of Honorary Membership to the Drucker Society Europe. He thus became only its third recipient along with Charles Handy the renowned writer on management and Joe Maciariello from the U.S. who worked closely with Drucker in Claremont, California, for 26 years.

Peter has held many positions in his career:

• Adviser to 10 Downing Street on Affordable Homes Initiatives.

• Director of Wrekin Housing Trust, which involved the largest transfer in Britain at the time of housing stock (13,000 homes) to a Housing Trust.

• Chairman of North Shropshire College.

• Non-Executive Director of Salop Area Health Authority for six years.

• Member of the Consumer Committee of the Severn Trent Water Board.

• Chairman of the Commissioner of Taxes.

• Member of the Shropshire Valuation Panel.

Often asked if he is related to ‘Starbucks’ the coffee chain; he usually replies that: no, there is no direct connection and the coffee chain reportedly adopted the name from a character in the classic novel ‘Moby Dick’. However, Herman Melville the author, immortalised the family names of some of the prominent whaling families of Nantucket in the 18th.C. with the Starbucks among them. Peter has subsequently established through genealogical research and by DNA analysis that his ancestors were of Viking origin and were among the first migrants to the New World in the 1600’s as part of the Quaker exodus from Europe.

Edward Starbuck, was born in Derbyshire - England in 1604, becoming one of the founding settlers of Nantucket Is. in Cape Cod, in 1659 and died there in 1690. His descendents were among the founders of the whaling industry and prospered there until the 19th C. Through genealogical records Peter has traced a direct connection back to Edward Starbuck’s brother who remained in England, The Starbuck name is of Viking origin (Starbokki) and this link was proven through DNA tests carried out at Leicester University by Dr Turi King, the specialist who confirmed the remains found under a car park in Leicester in 2013 as those of Richard III. Peter has produced a concise account of these associations entitled ‘Vikings, Coffee and Whales’ that can be viewed in the link on this website.

 Peter and his wife Heather share an extensive range of interests including exploratory travel. They have experienced much of the the Natural World and from these observations Peter is currently formulating and writing about about his ideas on ‘How Nature Managed First.’ The outcome is intended to be an introduction to the concept of management - especially for those people having management roles but perhaps less formal training.