Midlands art, culture, law and property leaders are among those featured on this year’s New Year’s Honors List.
They have been recognized for their work on topics as diverse as Shakespeare, HS2, and civil engineering and planning in the community.
Here we round up some of the business metrics from the West and East Midlands that made the list this year.
Jacqueline O’Hanlon is the Director of Education for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford and has an MBE in Merit to the Arts.
The 55-year-old has been in her current role since 2008, leading the RSC’s educational work and expanding its reach and impact in the UK and new areas such as China.
By entering into new partnerships, her work has reached more than 500,000 children per year in places with high cultural deficiencies.
Most recently, she introduced a talent development program for young people who would otherwise have no chance of an artistic career.
She is also a member of the Steering Group of the Midlands HE Culture Forum, where she leads the Arts Education Working Group and has helped build a vibrant archive of Arts Education in the Midlands over the past half century.
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Douglas Oakervee has been knighted for transportation and infrastructure provisioning services.
Although he has had a long career in civil engineering, he has become known to a wide audience in recent years through his work on HS2.
Sir Douglas served as chairman of HS2 for two years and was then appointed by Boris Johnson in the summer of 2019 to lead an independent evaluation panel that deals with all aspects of the high-speed rail project.
His report, published the following February, recommended continuing the project, but aspects of it would need to be reviewed to ensure that it was the best value for money.
In November, the planned east route between Birmingham and Leeds and a new HS2 station in Toton near Nottingham were scrapped.
He was named chairman of HS2 in 2012, where he led the business case and hybrid invoice preparation for the first phase between London and Birmingham, and in 2013 submitted the largest hybrid invoice ever in an electronic format, a first for Parliament.
In 2020 he took over the chairmanship of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, the oldest engineering company in the world.
Richard Port was awarded an MBE in Services for Victims of Domestic Violence.
The 30-year-old is a family law attorney with George Green in Cradley Heath and learned about problems with local lawyers, lack of training in family law and legal aid while handling one of his cases.
He also found that there was a lack of practical legal assistance for users of a refuge.
Mr. Port was inspired to devise and run a training program in his spare time to meet all of these needs for employees helping them access people to legal aid and assist them in court.
He already had ties to Women’s Aid, Trident Reach and Derbyshire WISH, all of which he still supports, and has given up his free time to visit refugee and contact centers, initially in Derbyshire, for free advice.
After moving to the West Midlands, he continued his free education with local organizations in the area and set up a telephone line so domestic violence organizations could contact him directly.
His promise to help victims of domestic violence contributed to his election to the Birmingham Law Society Council where he continues his work.
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Sue Manns was awarded an MBE for her contribution to planning. The 65-year-old is the director of Sue Manns Associates in Shropshire and has volunteered for several years in planning, advising individuals and communities involved in planning in their area.
She has used her honorary duties, including serving as Vice President and President of the Royal Town Planning Institute, to move matters forward, launch the panel’s “CHANGE” action plan, and raise awareness of the issues facing the profession, including through Speeches and panel discussions, blogs and social media.
The theme of her year as President was raising awareness about diversity, inclusion and women.
She also became CEO of the RTPI for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and was twice named “Woman with Influence” by a trade journal.
Other West Midlands-based recipients include Narinder Dhandwar, Business Relationship Manager at High Street Bank Barclays, who received an MBE in Services to the Business and Financial Sector in the West Midlands during Covid-19.
Said he was surprised to receive the award, he added, “I love working with my clients and being part of the West Midlands and Warwickshire team so I am very excited and very humble to receive this award receive.
“Providing the right level of support during the pandemic has been critical for many companies and I hope 2022 will be a better year for everyone.”
Birmingham Opera Music Director Alpesh Chauhan has received an OBE for services to the arts.
Laura Shoaf, who was executive director of transportation for the West Midlands and was named chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority in November, has received a CBE for her contribution to economic recovery in the West Midlands.
In the East Midlands, Gary Jordan received an MBE in Service to the Business and Community of Mansfield and Ashfield.
As chairman of the Mansfield and Ashfield 2020 Business Club, the 62-year-old leads a variety of campaigns targeting both the short-term and the potential long-term effects of bans.
During Covid-19’s initial lockdown, he acted as Nottinghamshire’s joint coordinator for the # ppe4nhs campaign, which moved more than 110,000 critical PPE items to frontline workers.
He also coordinated the collection of corporate PPE to the campaign drop-off points and used his local networks and social media to fully promote the campaign.
He now leads the #WeMakeITPossible campaign, which has already supported 260 families through his work to secure donations to collect and reuse redundant IT equipment from companies at elementary, secondary and SEND schools in Mansfield and Ashfield.
He is currently working with the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, Vision West Nottinghamshire College, local business leaders and skill groups to find out how best to support students who have left school and been laid off due to the pandemic.
Rosemary Wright has been awarded a BEM for Service to the Leicestershire Community. The 81-year-old from Hinckley helped set up the Hinckley Business Improvement District (BID).
The successful businesswoman, who is still in the shoe industry, started out with the re-establishment of the dwindling Chamber of Commerce, Hinckley, as president.
She was an elected member of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, and during her tenure as City Center Cabinet Member, the BID was launched in 2008.
Together with the group, Ms. Wright organizes and realizes a variety of events that attract large numbers of visitors to the city center, including a car show, a pancake race, a soapbox derby, and a food festival.
Other winners include Mark Esho, Director of Easy Internet Services and Leicester-based Easy Internet Solutions, which has been awarded an OBE for business services.