In 2012, Cardiff Business Club will celebrate its centenary. For almost 100 years, this prestigious speaker’s club has welcomed a galaxy of eminent guest speakers from all walks of public life: Education, Entertainment, Industry and Commerce, the Law, Medicine, Politics and Science and Technology.

Sadly, for most of the past century, we have no record of the speeches made at the Club’s meetings. We can only wonder what Eamon de Valera, first President of an independent Ireland, had to say to the business community of Cardiff. What was preoccupying the thoughts of Clement Atlee, Prime Minister of the post war Labour Government 1945-51 when he spoke at the Club? Did Lord Home of the Hirsel give any indication that he would make the decision to relinquish his hereditary peerage in response to his party’s call to lead the Conservative Administration in 1963? We shall never know the answers to these questions.

Geoff Drake, Chairman and Managing Director of Cardiff-based Drake Group Ltd and himself a graduate in History of the University ofWales, was acutely aware of the value which a complete record of these lost speakers would have had for modern historians and in 1993, he proposed that the Drake Group company, Drake Audio Visual, should start compiling an audio record of the speeches delivered to the Club with the intention of creating the Drake Sound Archive. The long term objective was to deposit this archive at the National Library ofWales. This offer was immediately accepted by the then Club Chairman, Brian Thomas and enthusiastically supported by him during his remaining term of office.

For the past 15 years, the Drake Sound Archive project has been diligently undertaken by Drake Audio Visual and the archive now comprises some 150 recordings, available on compact cassette and CD, carefully catalogued and safely stored at the company’s Cardiff studios. In 2007, Geoff Drake approached the National Library ofWales offering to deposit the Drake

Sound Archive with theWelsh Political Archive. This offer was readily accepted by the Librarian, Andrew Green, who recognised the importance of the collection for future generations of historians and social and political researchers. The Drake Sound Archive is intended to be an ongoing project
and recordings of the speakers for this and for future seasons will be deposited with the National Library ofWales once each season has been concluded.

The Drake Sound Archive of speeches made at the Cardiff Business Club from Season 1993 -1994 to Season 2007 - 2008, will be presented to the Librarian of the National Library of Wales, Andrew Green, at the meeting of the club on Monday 31st March 2008.

Cardiff Business Club is endebted to Geoff Drake, personally and to his team of audio technicians who have created this impressive record of the Club’s meetings.