“Purpose is the foundation of lasting success.”
Starting in the law
Paul was admitted as a solicitor by the Law Society in 1974. He became a senior partner in an entertainment law firm, working with well known artists and productions, and acted as legal adviser to bands including Level 42 and Tears for Fears, handling their contracts and negotiations.
Over the years that followed he moved from the law into media and business. He produced for the theatre and television, with shows such as The Rat Pack and the BBC’s Rotten Ralph. He led the restructure of Flying Music Group and the flotation of Musicunsigned, built media teams at law firms including Hammonds, held board roles and worked as a leadership coach with Telos Partners.
The studios
With his business partner Richard Boote, Paul owned AIR Studios, the recording studios at Lyndhurst Hall in Hampstead that Sir George Martin founded in 1969. The press reports that the pair bought AIR in 2006. Paul ran it as chief executive and describes leading its turnaround and then its sale, which completed in September 2018.
Not long before the sale, AIR won a two year legal fight against a neighbour’s plans to dig a basement next door, which the owners feared would force the studios to close. George Michael and Brian May signed an open letter in support and more than 13,000 people signed a petition. Paul told Billboard it was one of his most lasting memories of his time there.
“We wanted someone who wanted to maintain it and that we could pass on the baton to.”Paul Woolf, on the sale of AIR Studios, Billboard, 2018
Alongside AIR, Paul and Richard Boote owned Strongroom, the studio and bar complex in Shoreditch that Richard started in 1984. Paul organised and ran its demerger from AIR as a separate business and stayed with it until 2024.
The theatre
In 2016 Paul joined The Kings Theatre in Southsea, Portsmouth, as chair of the trust and chief executive, and he also headed its production team. Over the nine years he led it, he took the theatre through a complex transition to become a successful and financially stable regional theatre. For several years he co-wrote its pantomime.
In February 2024 the theatre appointed Richard Pearce as chief executive, praising the success Paul had achieved, and announced that Paul would turn his attention to the long awaited regeneration of the building while continuing to lead the in-house production team. He stepped down from the trust at the start of 2025.
Since April 2025 he has been on the board of The Mary Rose in Portsmouth, where he has set out to grow its revenues and its name at home and abroad. He is also a director of Mary Rose Trading.
Leading with purpose
Since 2025 Paul has worked as a business mentor. He helps chief executives and their teams find the purpose behind their business and line their goals up with it, through talks and one to one mentoring. His method starts with close listening to the words people use, to reach the core of what they are trying to do.
He writes too. He has written a screenplay and is at work on another, and he is the author of a book called How to Get a Record Deal.
Away from work he is a Level 3 cricket umpire and a trainer of umpires for the England and Wales Cricket Board, as well as an ECB Level 2 coach. He has mentored children with Chance UK and Chance to Shine and sits on an advisory panel for the British Red Cross. With Group Partners he brings fifty years of deals and turnarounds to leaders who need to change course.
The path
From the law to the studio floor and the stage.
- 1974
Admitted as a solicitor. Goes on to become a senior partner in an entertainment law firm, advising Level 42 and Tears for Fears.
- 1974 to 2009
Produces for theatre and television, including The Rat Pack and Rotten Ralph. Leads the restructure of Flying Music Group and the flotation of Musicunsigned.
- 2006
Buys AIR Studios in Hampstead with Richard Boote, as the press reports it.
- 2010
Leads AIR Studios as owner and chief executive, and later runs the demerger of Strongroom.
- 2016
Joins The Kings Theatre, Portsmouth, as chair of the trust and chief executive.
- 2018
Completes the sale of AIR Studios in September.
- 2024
Hands the Kings chief executive role to Richard Pearce and turns to the regeneration of the building. Leaves Strongroom.
- 2025
Joins the board of The Mary Rose and starts mentoring chief executives on purpose.
- Now
Joins the Group Partners Expert Network.
In his own words
“We have survived primarily because what we do, we do extremely well.”
“It’s a very family cultured place.”
“There comes a point in time when you need to hand it over to someone else whilst it’s in the Premiership.”
“They walked in and said, ‘I want it.’”
“When businesses understand why they exist, growth becomes unstoppable.”