Netherhall House and its many friends deeply regret the death on 4 January 2008 of Sir Bernard Audley, one of its staunchest supporters since the early 1960s.

Born on 24 April 1924 in Stockton Brook near Stoke-on-Trent, where his father ran a pottery business, he was educated at Wolstanton Grammar School and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His undergraduate years were interrupted by World War II military service with the King’s Dragoon Guards in Italy, Greece and Palestine.

After finishing his studies he obtained a position at Hulton Press where he became Assistant General Manager before leaving in 1957 to become Managing Director of Television Audience Measurement Ltd. After a period with another market-research company, Attwood, he started with two colleagues Audit of Great Britain or AGB in 1962 (the acronym also comprising the initial letters of their three surnames). The company was the first in market research to be launched on the Stock Exchange in 1970. In the 1980s AGB rapidly expanded internationally under his chairmanship. He was knighted in 1985. He served for a time as Chairman of Pergamon AGB after the company he had founded was boughtout, but later re-acquired a portion of it which he was to run very successfully  with his son, Robert. It was difficult to imagine one with his energy and thrust ever retiring fully. Sir Bernard was a man of wide interests and concerns at home and abroad, evidenced among other things by his becoming Chairman of Arts Access for the Disabled, a Governor of Hong Kong Baptist University and a Visiting Professor at Middlesex University. Here, however, we remember him chiefly for his service to Netherhall House.

His first contact with the House came through being invited to speak to the residents of the original Netherhall House in 1962. With the great efforts being made to build Phase I in those years he was invited, as a very dynamic businessman, to become Chairman of the Netherhall House Development Committee, established to raise the necessary funds. When the Netherhall House Trust was established in 1970 with a similar but more long-term goal he agreed to serve as a Trustee. His original colleagues, including several who had already belonged like him to the Committee, were Sir George Bolton (first Chairman), Mrs. Charles W. Englehard, the Earl of Lisburne, H.I. Matthey, George F. Taylor, and Sir Philip de Zulueta. Later on Sir Bernard took on the chairmanship himself, serving with distinction and a steady sympathy right through until the turn of the Millennium when the Trust was wound up on completion of the Netherhall 2000 project.

It is an extraordinary thought that he was present to welcome H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (then Chancellor of the University of London) to Netherhall for the inauguration of Phase I of the new buildings in 1966 and was still on hand to host H.E. Chief Anyaoku, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, at the laying of a foundation stone for Phase II in 1993 and again H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent at its opening in 1995. His gracious and witty words on all three occasions are affectionately remembered by many.

Sir Bernard revealed towards the end of his life something of his motivation in supporting Netherhall. He was addressing the camera in a celebratory film made about the hall of residence, and his unscripted words, vibrant with conviction, were very moving:

‘I had seen for myself the crying need that Netherhall House met, the need to provide decent accommodation for young people coming here to study at the university, the teaching hospitals, the law courts. … It was a situation I felt Netherhall House was tackling, and that I could help them to tackle… That was thirty-five years ago.… Netherhall is founded on a vision, on a vision of Christian principles, of tolerance, of understanding, between people of different creeds and classes, traditions and cultures… I think it is important for the world at large that these principles, this vision, are fostered and continued.’

In recent years Sir Bernard, although partially incapacitated by illness, was always keen to hear of developments at Netherhall and was visited at home from time to time by people from Netherhall who kept him abreast of things. He was delighted recently to meet again a briefly visiting Mgr. Cormac Burke with whom he had worked closely on Phase I of Netherhall and the two of them exchanged happy memories.

The funeral of Sir Bernard, a member of the Church of England, was celebrated at his local parish church. His son, Max, gave a most moving and perceptive address. Neil Pickering and Andrew Hegarty attended in grateful representation of generations of those who have benefited from Netherhall House.

We remember him fondly and will miss him. Our most sincere condolences to his widow, Barbara (Lady Audley), who has herself graced many a Netherhall event; to his children, Max, Robert and Sally; and to his devoted grandchildren.