Wolverhampton business champion honoured by city’s university
A FORMER Wolverhampton businessman who now champions businesses in the city has been awarded an honorary fellowship by the city’s University.
Chair of Wolverhampton Business Champions and a former operations director at Marston’s, Philip Barnett, was presented with his award at the university’s annual graduation ceremony.
The award was presented in recognition of his work during his career at Marston’s and for his input into the economic regeneration of the city through the Wolverhampton Business Champions.
He said: “I would like to thank the University of Wolverhampton for this award, it is a great honour to receive it. In my roles as chairman of both the Business Champions and the Grand Theatre I have worked closely with the university on a number of projects. We are fortunate to have such a proactive organisation in the city making a significant contribution to the economic well-being of the area.”
Mr Barnett was born in Wolverhampton and has worked in the city for the majority of his life. He recently retired from Marston’s after 43 years of service.
A qualified brewer, during his time at Marston’s, he held a number of senior roles in various parts of the organisation including brewing, logistics, export, sales and retail. He was recently made a life member of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling for his services to the brewing industry.
Wolverhampton Business Champions is made up of some of the biggest strategic businesses in the city: Carillion, Carvers, Jaguar Land Rover, Liberty Industries Group, Marston’s, Moog, University of Wolverhampton, UTC Aerospace Systems and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.
The role of the Business Champions is to work with the city council, local politicians and other key stakeholders to help make Wolverhampton a better place to live, work, invest and visit.
In April this year, he was appointed chair of Wolverhampton Grand Theatre and is currently working with the new chief executive and board to attract more visitors to the theatre.
