Peter was the CEO of the Pera Group from 2000 to 2008. Previously he was for ten years the director of an automotive advanced technology centre. In the early 1980s he worked in the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister’s Office as a member of a policy think-tank and as the Principle Adviser to the Government Chief Scientist.

He was made a CBE in 2003 for services to business innovation. He has a PhD and BSc in physics and an Honorary Doctorate from Loughborough University. Recent part-time appointments include being the Customer Guardian for a financial services company, the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Innovation at Loughborough University, and a Distinguished Visitor to the University of Cambridge Institute of Manufacturing. He mentors start-up businesses and was a trustee of a care home charity.