King’s Birthday Honours 2023
Yorkshire and Humber people who have contributed to employment skills, sustainable food business, sport and the care industry are among those to be singled out in the The King’s Birthday Honours 2023.
They were among 70 residents from Yorkshire and Humberside recognised in this year’s Birthday Honours List.
Dr Richard Mantle, who is to step down as general director of Opera North after nearly 30 years with the organisation, is to be knighted. The company has been widely admired for its adventurous and bold creative spirit, for its commitment to musical and theatrical excellence, and for creating extraordinary experiences for audiences and participants under his leadership, and he has transformed it into a complex, multifaceted arts organisation ready to meet 21st century challenges. Dr Mantle is also a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.
Awarded an MBE is South Yorkshire’s Andrew Laver, who has spent 10 years enhancing the opportunities of young people to gain high-quality work-related experience, supporting their access to good careers.
His contribution was through his leadership of the Industrial Centres of Excellence (ICE).
ICE are a sector-based education and business partnership, led by business and co-designed with schools, aligning local skills provision with workforce planning.
Establishing funding and providing financial investment into the programme, Laver set up a partnership approach to design a programme around the skills employers need.
Piece Hall chief executive Nicky Chance-Thompson has been awarded an MBE for services to culture, heritage and regeneration in Calderdale and the wider region. She joined the Piece Hall as a trustee in 2015 and became chief executive in 2017.
Trustees board chairman Sir Roger Marsh OBE said that under her leadership the Piece Hall had become a world-class venue contributing more than £10m a year to Calderdale’s economy, and a praised her work developing relationships with community organisations and partners.
Also awarded an MBE in South Yorkshire is John Marren, who has led the Company Shop Group.
With a long-standing career in retail, Marren became acutely aware of the large amount of food waste within the industry.
He built trusted relationships with manufacturers to ensure this food does not go to waste, acting on his concern of the soaring number of people slipping into food poverty.
His leadership has ensured major retailers now re-route surplus food to be sold through a network of community shops.
Marren’s initiative created 280 new jobs during 2020 and ensured thousands of key workers had access to good value food during this difficult period.
In sport, West Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid has received an MBE for services to cricket. He was a two-time cricket World Cup winner in 2019 and 2022.
Rashid is England’s highest wicket-taker among spin bowlers in both ODIs and T20Is, and England second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is overall behind Chris Jordan.
Along with Jos Buttler, he holds the world record for highest seventh-wicket stand in ODIs: 177 against New Zealand in 2015.
He did much to set right English cricket’s troubled relationship with leg spin when he established himself as the country’s leading white-ball spinner in 2015 and four years later was a key part of their World Cup-winning side.
Another honour for contributions to sport has gone to Susan Taylor, from West Yorkshire, who has gained an MBE for services to Rugby League Football.
Her 49-year association with Rugby League has culminated with her recent appointment to the position of vice president of The Rugby Football League, the game’s highest governing body.
She was the first female treasurer and secretary of numerous Yorkshire-based governing associations, and the elevation to chair of the British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) in 2013 gave her the platform to increase player participation numbers at both open and junior ages.
Her financial acumen and good governance have been instrumental in stabilising the inherited financial problems of the organisation.=
West Yorkshire’s Perminderjeet (Pam) Banwait, founder and managing director of Banwait Group Holdings, which owns and operates Strong Life Care Ltd, has been awarded a British Empire Medal.
Under her management, she established four care homes for the elderly in Yorkshire and increased bed capacity by 400% within the first 16 months.
Each of her care homes is one of the largest employers in the area, and her commitment to diverse, inclusive, and truly equal opportunities of recruitment has allowed her to build a workforce that is representative of the population served.
Since 2014, she has recruited 65 people from disadvantaged backgrounds and commits to protect 20% of employment positions for victims of domestic abuse or from deprived backgrounds.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden MP, said: “This year’s honours list is a testament to ordinary people who have demonstrated extraordinary community spirit, and I pay tribute to all those from Yorkshire and Humberside who have been recognised today.
“Our honours system has long been a way of recognising people who make an incredible contribution to life in Britain and beyond.
“We are now focused on levelling up the system to ensure it represents the length and breadth of the country, and I hope that the fantastic stories this year ensure more regional nominations in the future.”
