The work of those in the food industry has been acknowledged in His Majesty the King’s New Year Honours List.
The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture’s (TIAH) chief executive, Janet Swadling, has been awarded an OBE for services to farming and to education.
In addition to having played a pivotal role in TIAH’s formation, Janet is a former chief executive of Scotland’s Rural College. She currently also sits on the Boards of several organisations including AHDB and Zero Waste Scotland, and is an Associate of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.
Ivan Menezes, the chief executive of Diageo has been given a knighthood for his services to business and equality.
OBEs also go Arla Foods UK managing director, Ash Amirahmadi, Elbrook Group’s director, Frank Khalid and C&C Group’s chairman, Ralph Findley.
Northern Ireland tributes
SPAR retailer, Peter McBride receives an MBE for services to his community in Country Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
Michael Bell, the executive director for the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association received an OBE for his service to the food and drink industry and the Province’s economy.
Ursula Lavery, technical and R&D Director Europe, has been awarded an MBE for services to the Agri-Food Industry and to the Economy in Northern Ireland.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted and very humbled to receive this honour. I am proud to be part of the Northern Ireland Agri-Food industry, and this award is testament to the talented people I work with and everything we
are doing to drive food integrity, animal welfare and provide a sustainable supply chain for our farmers and customers.”
Congratulating Ursula, Chris Kirke, president of Moy Park said: “Ursula is committed to achieving excellence across the supply chain, from farm to fork. She is a dedicated researcher, director and leader in our industry and on behalf of Moy Park we offer her our congratulations.”
Also in the poultry industry Robin Faccenda, who established the Faccenda Group in 1962 received an OBE for his services to the poultry industry and education. That company grew to become the second biggest UK chicken processing company. In 2018 it merged with Cargill and is now Avara, one of the UK’s largest food businesses.
The UK’s chief veterinary officer (CVO) Christine Middlemiss has been made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the King’s New Year Honours. The Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry and is second only to a damehood or knighthood.
She said: “I am truly humbled to be awarded this honour. For me, it demonstrates the recognition of the importance of having vets in government and what we do. As we’ve seen over the last few years, vets have a critical role in a variety of issues including new and emerging diseases, food supply and supporting people fleeing conflict with their beloved pets.
“I am very proud of the work we do and I am passionate about inspiring confidence in women and girls hoping to pursue careers in science, as well as ensuring that we have highly expert and experienced public sector vets to continue to make a significant positive impact.”
