Business figures receive honours from university

SUCCESSFUL Yorkshire business people including Edward Ziff, Keith Loudon, Lawrence Tomlinson and Denise Jagger have been presented with honorary awards at Leeds Metropolitan University this week.

Mr Loudon, senior partner at Leeds-based national stockbroking firm Redmayne-Bentley received an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the university as did chairman and Chief Executive of Leeds-based Town Centre Securities Edward Ziff.

Yesterday Lawrence Tomlinson, chairman of the LNT Group,celebrated his birthday by accepting an honorary Doctorate for Mechanical Engineering from the university while Denise Jagger, partner at international law firm Eversheds and former company secretary and general counsel at Asda, will receive an honorary Doctorate of Laws later today.

Earlier this week TheBusinessDesk.com founder David Parkin was presented with an honorary Master of Business Administration award in recognition of his contribution to business in Yorkshire.

Speaking about receiving the award, Mr Ziff said: “I’m very proud as Leeds Met is a well-known institution throughout the country and internationally. I was fortunate enough to learn an enormous amount from my own father as I began my career in the family business and I don’t think there are any secrets to success in business, just work hard and keep life in balance.”

Mr Loudon said: “I never expected this as I never graduated – I think I’m a late developer.  I’m just over 80 now.
 
“We first started dealing with Leeds Met at Redmayne-Bentley when we started taking placements from the university about 20 years ago and now about seven per cent of our staff are graduates from here.  Congratulations to all the students graduating today. Today is not the end – it’s the beginning.

A friend of Leeds Metropolitan, Keith is passionate about education and dedicates much of his time supporting various initiatives at the University.  A donor to Leeds Met’s Bright Futures scholarship fund, which supports the education of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, he also pioneered a scheme – now in its fifteenth year – that enables Redmayne-Bentley to annually offer year-long student placements. 
 
Keith was also instrumental in setting up a PR prize in memory of his colleague, PR Executive Claire Mascall. The annual competition leads to monetary prizes and corresponding placements for Leeds Metropolitan Public Relations students.
 
Mr Tomlinson’s award is the third academic accolade he has received alongside honorary doctorates from both the University of Huddersfield and the University of Bradford. 

He is now founding chairman of the Leeds-based LNT Group, which employs more than 2000 people across care homes, construction, software, chemicals and car manufacturing. 

Mr Tomlinson said: “Who could ask for a better birthday present?  I have always had an interest in mechanical engineering.  When I saw the opportunity to work with Ginetta to re-establish it as British race-car engineering excellence, I could not resist the challenge. I’m pleased to have been able to contribute to mechanical engineering and the recognition I have received from Leeds Metropolitan University today is fantastic.”