Ian Cheshire awarded knighthood for services to Business, Sustainability and the Environment

A retail chief with green leanings, a career regulator and a master of spin are among the members of the business community to be recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.

Ian Cheshire, the chief executive of Kingfisher, which owns the B&Q chain, is knighted for his contribution to innovation, wealth creation and sustainability.

The former management consultant has run Kingfisher since 2008 and, according to the citation, doubled sales of eco-products to £1 billion and made B&Q the first large retailer to source all its timber products sustainably. He also delivered for shareholders, tripling the share price.

There is a damehood for Colette Bowe, chairwoman of Ofcom since 2009, during which time she has opened up the spectrum to greater competition, licenced the first local TV stations and taken on responsibility for supervising the postal services.

Also knighted is Alan Parker, the founder and chairman of Brunswick, the PR consultancy whose blue-chip clients include BAE Systems, Tesco and Daily Mail & General Trust. He is also chairman of Save the Children UK.

The shunning of bankers by the honours committee will come to an end as Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the chief executive of Virgin Money, which owns the rump of Northern Rock, is appointed a CBE.
Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief executive of the investment company Alliance Trust, has been similarly honoured, as has Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of the stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.

Industrialists appointed CBE include Warren East, the recently retired chief executive of the chipmaker ARM Holdings, and Paul Skinner, the former chairman of Rio Tinto.

The economist and scourge of short-termism John Kay is also appointed a CBE. The entrepreneurs Michael Acton Smith — founder of Mind Candy, the online gaming company behind Moshi Monsters — and Franklyn Musto, of the clothing company Musto, are appointed OBEs.

Source : Patrick Hosking - The Times
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