Leadership

Peter Barnes has been Chairman of the British-German Association since 2018, and is responsible for the overall leadership of the BGA.

Peter worked in HM Treasury, at Boston Consulting Group and for The Economist, before founding his own public affairs consultancy, which he wound up in order to focus his energies on the BGA.

Peter was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (First Class BA Hons, PPE) and at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA).

As an undergraduate, Peter was encouraged by his Politics tutor to spend his two Summer holiday in Germany. This was the start of his continuing fascination with Germany.

Duncan Johnston has been Honorary Treasurer of the British-German Association since 2021, and is responsible for the finances of the charity and for fundraising..

Duncan was a partner at Deloitte for 20 years until his retirement in May 2022. He focussed on M&A transactions in the industrial and services sectors

Duncan studied German and Philosophy at the University of St Andrews, starting his interest in German and the German language.

While at Deloitte, he worked extensively in Germany and for a five year period lived and worked in Duesseldorf.  It was this period which sparked his desire to work on strengthening the civil society links between the UK and Germany.

Sybille is the Honorary Secretary of the British German Association.

Sybille is from Germany but came to the UK with a scholarship from the DAAD and British Council a long time ago and stayed in the UK. She is a dual qualified solicitor and Rechtsanwältin in England/Wales and Germany and a Partner in the Employment and Immigration team of Irwin Mitchell LLP. Sybille is also the Chairman of the British German Jurists’ Association.

Born and raised in Germany in a dual heritage (British & Indian) family, Neelam has lived in the UK since the late 90s with long stints spent working in Brussels, Strasbourg and Paris. Now settled in London, she is the Director for the UK Business Development at POLITICO Europe. Prior to this Neelam worked in a banking supervision role at the Bank of England and as a political assistant in the European Parliament. 

Having always been passionate about maintaining her connection to Germany and her native German language skills, she has founded and led German Clubs in the Bank of England and POLITICO. Aside from this, she enjoys bhangra dancing, organising anything she can get her hands on, following politics and spending time with family & friends. 

Andrew Gilchrist has been a Trustee of the British-German Association since 2020 with a particular interest in military and business issues.

Andrew served in the British Army, spending several years in Germany with BAOR, and subsequently was with The Boston Consulting Group, The Financial Times, and Egon Zehnder. Andrew has now qualified as a full time Executive Coach.

Andrew was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge (MA, Cantab) and the Harvard Business School (MBA).

With a German mother, Andrew has always been drawn to Germany and it remains a primary focus of his personal and business interests.

Paul is Head of Youthbridge, which supports the teaching of German in UK schools. His background is in education, as Head of Modern Languages in both maintained and independent sectors, and in education consultancy. He has written and co-authored numerous textbooks for A Level German, for undergraduates, adult learners and travellers.

He is on the Board of the Dresden Trust, responsible for the Scholarship programmes.

A graduate in German and French (Sheffield), he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

His fascination with Germany was piqued as a child through his love of music, and by family holidays.

Miriam Thiede has been on the board of the BGA since 2018 with particular responsibility for BGA members under the age of 35.

She has worked at Magdalen College, Oxford, the Royal College of Music and is now the Senior Development Manager at The Courtauld Institute of Art.

Miriam was educated at schools in both Germany and England and went on to read Theology at Worcester College, Oxford.

She holds dual nationality and strongly believes in fostering activities relating to strengthening ties between the UK and Germany. 

Maurice Hirt joined the BGA Executive Committee in 2020. He is responsible for student and U-25 members. 

From 2019 to 2021, Maurice led the LSE German Symposium which has cooperated closely with the BGA for many years. 

Maurice read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the London School of Economics and is currently completing his MPhil in European Politics at the University of Oxford. 

Having lived, worked and studied in Germany and the UK, Maurice is passionate about the bilateral relationship, in particular fostering exchange between both countries.