Entrepreneurs, company founders and senior directors are among the local business figures included in the New Year Honours list.
Terence Donnelly, executive chairman of the north’s largest family-owned new and used vehicle dealership the Donnelly Group, has been awarded an OBE for services to the motor industry, while Robin Mercer, 69, who is the third generation owner of Hillmount garden lifestyle business, has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to business and the economy.
Other OBEs named in the New Year Honours include James Bullick, finance and compliance director and honorary treasurer at Belfast Harbour Commissioners and British Ports Association, who has been recognised for services to the maritime industry, while Frank Bryan, lately chair at Belfast Metropolitan College, has been awarded an OBE for services to further education and the economy in the north.
David Crozier, lately head of strategic partnerships and engagement at Queen’s University Belfast, is one of just two Northern Ireland recipients of a CBE.
Helen Keys, the entrepreneur in residence at Queen’s Students’ Union, has been awarded an MBE for her services to both entrepreneurship and innovation in farming.
Meanwhile, Queen’s graduate Samuel Anderson, founder and chief executive of IceMOS Technology, has been awarded an MBE for services to economic development in Northern Ireland.
The company, which makes high performance MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors), lists NASA among its clients.
Other MBE recipients include Maurice Kennedy for services to the transport and logistics industries and Elizabeth McCrory, regional lead for UK Export Finance, who has been recognised for services to exporting businesses in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Eileen Stewart manager at Armagh Business Centre, has been awarded a BEM For services to entrepreneurship, to economic regeneration and to the community.