Several figures from the North’s creative, sport and tech world were recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list at the weekend.
Oldham native Kevin Sinfield has been knighted for his services to rugby and his fundraising for motor neurone disease (MND). The Leeds Rhinos and England Rugby League star has raised more than £10m from his marathon running exploits following the MND diagnosis and death of his friend and former team-mate Rob Burrow.
Sinfield said: “My playing career was everything I could ever have dreamed of as a young man but the last seven years have given me so much inspiration. The MND community are the very best of us and it has been my privilege to support them and put their battle on the stage it needs.”
Businessman Dave Fishwick, meanwhile, who inspired Netflix’s Bank of Dave film, was awarded an OBE for services to finance, business and charity. The 55-year-old made his fortune supplying minibuses before opening Burnley Savings and Loans to support people following the 2008 financial crash.
Liz Prince, Cheshire-based business manager at Amiqus, founder of G Into Gaming and co-founder of Empower Up, was awarded an MBE for services to the games industry and to diversity. Prince has spent more than 30 years as a recruitment professional, including more than two decades specialising in the games industry.
Through her role at Amiqus, she has supported studios, publishers and games businesses across the UK and internationally, helping games companies find specialist talent while championing fairer, more inclusive hiring practices across the sector.
Alongside her work at Amiqus, Prince founded G Into Gaming in 2018, an initiative created to recognise and celebrate women working in the games industry and to shine a light on those helping to create more inclusive workplaces. She is also co-founder of Empower Up, which provides practical guidance, resources and signposting around equity, diversity, inclusion, hiring, leadership and workplace culture for games studios and individuals across the industry.
She said: “My hope is that this recognition helps keep attention on the importance of fairer access, better representation and more inclusive workplaces across the games industry.”
Three senior figures from the University of Manchester, were also honoured.
Prof David Knowles is the CEO of the Henry Royce Institute and has been awarded a CBE for services to industry and academia.
His work has focused primarily on the application of advanced materials and engineering research to address major industrial and national challenges across transport, energy, petrochemical and infrastructure sectors.
Prof Luke Georghiou, a former deputy president and deputy vice-chancellor at The University of Manchester was awarded an OBE for services to science and innovation. He is currently Professor of Science and Technology Policy and Management in the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at Alliance Manchester Business School.
Among his many contributions, he led Manchester’s successful bid to host the Euroscience Forum and secure its designation as European City of Science, and played a key role in the foundation of Northern Gritstone, a £380m venture capital company supporting university spinouts across the North.
Georghiou said: “It has been a privilege to support and guide so many hugely talented people and to help develop Manchester’s outstanding innovation ecosystem.”
Professor Gareth Evans, Emeritus Professor of Medical Genetics at The University of Manchester and consultant in Medical Genetics at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, was awarded an MBE for services to cancer genetics.
His work has made a significant contribution to advancing understanding, diagnosis and care in inherited cancer, benefiting patients and families in the UK and beyond.
He said: “I’m very honoured to be mentioned in the King’s Birthday Honours. It’s the culmination of 36 years of work on inherited cancers and I’m extremely pleased.”
University of Central Lancashire vice-chancellor Professor Graham Baldwin DL was awarded an OBE for services to higher education. He said: “Receiving an OBE is a humbling moment. My whole career in higher education has been driven by a desire to remove social and economic barriers, to nurture potential, and to ensure that studying at university is transformational.”
Prof Janet Lord, deputy pro-vice-chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University, was also awarded an OBE for services to education.
Pic: Rob Brrows and Kevin Sinfield
