George Backhouse

George Backhouse was employed in 1948 as the Chief Executive Officer of the Festival Office, which was responsible for the personnel and the organisation of the Festival of Britain. The Festival Office was established in 1948 to undertake the organisation and management of official projects connected with the Festival. The head office was at Savoy Court in the Strand, London. Staffing was in part achieved by transfer from the Central Office of Information's Exhibition Unit. George Backhouse employed other staff recruited through the Ministry of Labour. The administrative branches were managed by personnel loaned from other government departments. In addition Backhouse was responsible for the security force for the exhibition, as well as the operational staff and supervisors. At its peak the Office employed 772 core staff, 29 industrial staff and 1,908 operational staff to work on the Festival. Staffing levels dropped rapidly as the exhibition finished. The Festival Office closed in March 1953.

The Festival of Britain was held in 1951 as a celebration of peace and to demonstrate British achievement in the arts, industrial design and the sciences. Although the main site of the Festival was the South Bank, London, it was also promoted as a nationwide event with sites in Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow . The Festival ship Campania visited ports around the country and every town marked the occasion in some way, for example with a music festival or pageant. The exhibition proved to be immensely popular, attracting 8.5 million visitors to the South Bank in five months.

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