West Midlands business trio awarded MBEs
THREE prominent West Midlands business people have been given awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
MBEs have been awarded to Malvern Instruments managing director Paul Walker, Emma Jones, who set up Shropshire-based Enterprise Nation, and Elizabeth Gooch, who set up and runs plc eg solutions.
Walker has been with Worcestershire pharamacutical firm since 1995 and is also on the business board of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Malvern Instruments has gone from strength to strength in the export markets and last year won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
Walker was given the MBE for services to international trade and local business support.
Emma Jones set up and runs Shrewsbury-based Enterprise Nation. The online organisation helps people to start and grow their own businesses by putting them in touch with other business owners, by providing access to tools and resources and by sharing its own knowledge.
Jones, who was given the award for services to enterprise, said: “This came as a very pleasant surprise. I’m delighted to receive this honour whilst accepting there’s still work to be done when it comes to encouraging people to start and grow their own business.”
Elizabeth Gooch’s Staffordshire financial software supplier eg solutions is another with a keen eye on the international markets. Earlier this year it won a big contract covering 3,250 users in Europe and India.
She was given an MBE for services to the financial services sector.
Elsewhere in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd was given a knighthood for services to drama, Aston University vice chancellor Professor Julia King was made a dame for services to higher education and technology and Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall director Andrew Jowett was awarded an OBE for services to music.
In addition, David Cragg, deputy chairman of The Skills Show, based at the National Exhibition Centre, received the CBE, his third honour in a long career.
Mr Cragg has been awarded the CBE for services to education and skills (West Midlands). The award is in addition to the MBE he received in 2000 for services to vocational training and the OBE in 2008 for services to learning and skills.
He became the first chief executive of Birmingham and Solihull Training and Enterprise Council (1990-2000), and was the first regional director of the Learning and Skills Council (2004-2009). Much of his work has been devoted to forging close links between education and training and industry in the West Midlands.
Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group, said: “It is very unusual for someone to be honoured three times and this latest award underlines David’s unique contribution to education, training and business in general in the West Midlands.”
Mr Cragg was born in Yorkshire but has spent most of his career in Birmingham, working closely with industry in the West Midlands. Early in his career he was a further education teacher, primarily providing language training and consultancy services to regional businesses.
He set up the first Business Link nationally in Birmingham and established Accelerate, the automotive supply chain body.
“It played a critical role in the diversification and modernisation of West Midlands automotive supply chain and minimised the impact of the 2000 BMW Rover crisis and its ultimate collapse in 2005,” added Mr Blackett.
He also led the retraining programme for redundant Rover employees, helping to ensure only 2% of former workers were still claiming benefit 18 months later.
Mr Cragg was approached by the government in 2010 to oversee and lead the highly successful WorldSkills “Olympics” in London 2011. It was the first time that the 60-year-old global event had been staged in the UK.
He said: “It was the best single experience, by a mile, of my whole career and the award of this honour is as much a tribute to everyone involved in delivering that great event.”
Former Aston Villa centre half Paul Elliott and goalkeeper David James were both given an OBE – the former for services to equality and diversity in football, the latter for his services to football and charity.
