Channel misses out on New Year's Honours

Following a quick scour of the 2016 New Year's Honours list, just a handful of names with an IT link appeared to have received gongs this year

Representatives from the UK IT industry were few and far between in the 2016 New Year's Honours List.

On a list that has made Barbara Windsor - best known for her roles in the Carry On films and as Queen Vic landlady Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders - a dame for services to drama and charity; and Anne Summers CEO Jacqueline Gold a CBE for services to entrepreneurship; the number of names attached to the IT industry and more importantly, the channel, were very sparse.

Other well-known faces who received gongs included champion jockey AP McCoy who gained a knighthood for services to horseracing, and actor James Nesbitt who gained an OBE for services to acting and Northern Ireland.

Some media outlets have already branded the list ‘tainted' and 'corrupt', and Labour labelled the system ‘degraded' after Tory general election strategist Lynton Crosby was given a knighthood for political service. Calls for an overhaul on how honours are decided are mounting.

However on the positive side, of the 1,196 people on the list, just over three quarters of the recipients are people who have undertaken work in their local community including doctors, academics, nurses, social workers and charity fundraisers, to name a few.

After a quick scour, just three names leapt out that had any attachment to the IT industry: Dr Susan Black, senior research associate in the department of computer science at UCL, was awarded an OBE for services to technology; and Clare Sutcliffe - the founder of Code Club, was given an MBE for services to technology education.

Finally Bobby Paton, managing director of Accenture (North East) was awarded a CBE for services to the promotion of IT skills and apprenticeships.

The channel's most famous MBE recipients so far are Lawrence Jones, CEO of UKFast, and Scott Fletcher, founder of ANS. Fletcher was awarded his in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2014, and Jones in the 2015 New Year's Honours list.

NOTE: Of course if we have missed anyone out, please get in touch and we will amend accordingly.