Entrepreneurs recognised alongside Team GB stars in New Year Honours

Posted by Dan Martin in Finances, Business trends on Sat, 29/12/2012 - 15:00
London 2012 logo

Several business people are included in the Queen's annual list of awards which this year features 78 of Britain's Olympic and Paralympic stars.

To mark the London 2012 Games, a special list as drawn up to reward the country's medallists. Among them is cyclist Bradley Wiggins who has been knighted, while Paralympic cyclist Sarah Storey becomes a dame. 

In addition, athletes Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah receive CBEs and tennis player Andy Murray is an OBE.

Away from the Games, people from the world of business have been recognised.

Martha Lane Fox, the co-founder of Lastminute.com, has become an CBE in recognition of her role as the government's digital champion, while Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden, the entrepreneurs behind Tatty Devine, the jewellery brand that has become a cult classic in British fashion accessories, are MBEs. 

Another jeweller, Stephen Webster, founder of the eponymous jewellery brand and creative director of Garrard, the former crown jeweller founded in 1735, receives an MBE, Tony Pidgley, founder of housebuilders Berkeley is a CBE and Hossein Yassaie, chief executive of Imagination Technologies, which makes technology for the iPhone and iPad, has been knighted.

 

"Clearly the UK is not a strong place for 'brand' companies," Yassaie told the BBC. 
 
"A lot of top brands out there are either American, or Japanese or Korean. But what the UK is very good at is creating technologies and know-how that is needed for these products.
 
"I certainly hope that going forward the country can do better in other parts of the food chain. But certainly in underlying technologies I think the UK is the leading country in terms of providing intellectual property and technology for a lot of the new things that are happening around us."

 

Investors are also included on the list. Sherri Coutu, who has more made more than 35 investments in companies including LinkedIn and LOVEFiLM has been made a CBE as has Johanna Waterous, a venture capital backer of several small businesses.

One of the more controversial awards goes to Hector Sants, the former Financial Services Authority chief executive criticised over regulatory failures during the 2008 financial crisis, who has been knighted.

Click below for the full lists of honours:

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