Business News Obituaries

Former MCPS executive Keith Lowde drowns in Thames

By | Published on Thursday 6 January 2011

Keith Lowde

The body of former MCPS senior executive Keith Lowde was recovered from the River Thames on 3 Jan by police divers. Lowde had been transporting his wife and two other couples from his home on Pharaoh’s Island to the riverbank in Shepperton, Surrey when the small boat they were travelling in overturned.

All three women and one of the men on the boat managed to swim to the bank, having suffered only minor injuries, but Lowde and another man, Cambridge University lecturer Dr Rex Walford, did not. Lowde’s body was recovered on Monday, while the search for Walford was called off by Police on Wednesday.

Keith Lowde was the deputy manager of mechanical rights collecting society MCPS from 1981 to 1992, and also worked for the BPI, BASCA and Copyright Hotline, as well as directing the National Music Festival for the Department Of Culture, Media and Sport. Since 2002 he had worked as a lecturer on the music business at the Academy Of Contemporary Music in Guildford and in November launched a new company, Entertainment Connect, which provides entertainment for private functions and cruises.

In a statement, Lowde’s family told the BBC: “This tragic accident has left a massive hole in all our lives. The response from all our friends, Keith’s work colleagues, and his students has been immense and we thank them all for their support and help. It is clear that over his life Keith has helped so many people in such a positive way”.

Speaking to The Guardian, songwriter Guy Fletcher said: “Keith was a one-off, a lovely guy. He was such a charming man. I was with him just ten days ago and this news has shocked me. He was a real luminary of the music industry and had been for a very long time”.

He is survived by his wife and children.



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