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While welcoming the incoming ICA president
during the Annual General Meeting on December
15, 2006, Fritz Grobien, the first President of
International Cotton Association said,
"Following a request by the Board Members we
organized an Informal Strategic Board Meeting
for the first time. This enabled us to discuss
fundamental questions without the time pressure
of a regular Board Meeting. It was an
interesting experience. In view of today's
changing Environment it is good to stop every
now and then and check that the road we are on
is still taking us in the right direction. It is
our responsibility to look ahead and consider
future developments so that we can provide the
international cotton trade with a safe and sound
framework.” In response, Peter Wakefield
reiterated "this is a policy that I intend to
continue".
Peter Wakefield who has lived a truly
international cotton life said that he wished to
dedicate his year of office and the remaining
years of his career to serving the interests of
the international cotton trade which embraced
his life since the beginning of his career.
Being an international cotton personality, Peter
Wakefield wittily said, “I have always loved to
travel, which is not surprising, as according to
my parents, the very first stages of my life
were in Africa and I subsequently formed part of
a delayed FOB shipment to Merseyside where I was
born on February 1, 1960. By April 27th, 1960 I
had been safely transshipped to Kobe, Japan, via
Boston and Dallas in the US, hence my love of
travel.”
Peter's early formative years were spent in
Japan which has been the foundation of his
business and personal life. He found the people
of the host country gracious and hospitable. His
school friends were of every race, country and
creed - break time was a babble of languages,
school teachers of different nationalities were
real teachers with strict values. Peter and his
3 brothers, Andrew, John and Greg, share d
a full life with their parents. In 1973 they
packed their bags and set off on another
adventure, this time to Singapore - another
exciting country where the family continued
their multinational life style and most
importantly the boys continued their education
at the United World College of South East Asia.
In 1976 Wakefield family finally returned to
Liverpool and he embarked on an education
designed to lead to the pinnacles of
architectural excellence. Fortunately, in 1979,
a great family friend, Suvit Chantarasomboon,
decided to spend some time with their family and
during his visit he invited Peter to work for
him as a trainee cotton controller in Bangkok.
Suvit's idea of training was to have four or
five of the trainees sleep in a room at his
residence/office, wake them up at six every
morning and send them off to spinning mills with
dire warning of what would happen if they did
not perform to his exacting standards. “A
wonderful man to whom I will always be eternally
grateful” Peter fondly recalls.
In 1983 Peter was appointed manager of Edward T.
Robertson & Son, Taipei. This was his first
experience of managing a fully independent
operational controlling company. This was also
where he met his wife Barbara. They were married
in UK He flew home to find everything already
arranged - all he had to arrange was the
honeymoon…thanks to a close knit family. Soon
Peter and his family were back to Taipei. Their
two children, Robert and Rhea were born during
their seven happy years of stay in Taipei. In
June 1990 Peter went home to work in a nine
month stint in the Regional Head Office of
"ITS", the company that owned ETR. They finally
returned to Liverpool in January 1991. “It only
seems like yesterday that I was driving the
children to school. Now, they want to borrow the
car to take their gear back to University -
Robert now studying at Manchester University and
Rhea at Liverpool University”, says Peter, the
happy and satisfied father.
 In 1993 together
with his brother Greg, he purchased the assets
of Edward T. Robertson & Son and established
Wakefield Inspection Services at Liverpool and
Dallas. At first, their cotton services mainly
covered only landed control of shipments after
arrival at destination. This over time has been
expanded to cover pre-shipment inspection
services for quantity and quality at origin and
at transit ports. Today his company offers a
full range of services, including instrument
testing at many locations.
Peter Wakefield humbly states, “My entire
business career has been within the cotton
controlling industry, a business that has
emerged and developed to perform independent
services within the framework of Contracts and
the particular Rules stated in the contracts. It
is as a cotton controller that I was honored to
accept the invitation to be the President of the
International Cotton Association”.
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