His passions outside of his family life include Opera. He has almost 2 decades of involvement with Opera North, 10 years as a board member and deputy chair, and he currently chairs their development committee, he has recently been made a life Vice President of the company. He is a serving member of the board of Northern Ballet and sits on several of their subcommittees. He served 6 years as a trustee and on the executive committee of The Leeds International Piano Competition. He is the past chair and trustee of NOEL, a music education charity whose main activity was developing singing within schools and community groups and the running of the Yorkshire Youth Choir and the Yorkshire Youth Orchestra.
Clive is a vice president and a past president of The Halifax Antiquarian Society and currently sits on the executive committee and has had papers published in the society’s transactions. He was a founding trustee of the Halifax Piece Hall and oversaw its transformation from the local authority historic monument to the thriving heritage and tourist attraction it is today. He is a current trustee and grants committee member of the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust. He also sits on his local PCC. This enthusiasm for history was applied to the loving restoration of Peel House, their Elizabethan home that was purchased in his mid-20s and was lovingly restored. The restoration won “The West Yorkshire Archaeological Services Historic House Award” in 1997. It is a project with no end.
Clive served has High Sheriff of West Yorkshire 2022-2023, and he is a trustee of National Crimebeat, a national charity dedicated to promoting and encouraging crime reduction initiatives led by young people.
When not involved in any of the above Clive is an enthusiastic road cyclist, climber, ski tourer and mountaineer. His endeavours include climbing the Matterhorn and a winter climb of Mont Blanc to ski from the summit, amongst others. Clive and Virginia are also keen supporters of the arts and have a close involvement with the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the Hepworth Gallery and Leeds Lieder.
Clive is married to his childhood sweetheart Virginia, and they have 2 children in their 20’s Freddie, who works with Clive, and Isabella who works in London.
Above - Clive (right) with Ben Ponniah, composer, at Halifax Choral Society's Wortld Premiere of Ben's Begin
Right - Clive served as High Sherrif of West Yorkshire 2022-23