Leading entrepreneurs recognised in New Years Honours list

The Queen has recognised a host of top entrepreneurs with titles in the 2015 New Years Honours list including Startups Awards winning Julie Deane of the Cambridge Satchel Company and 2008 Young Gun Richard Moross of Moo.com.

Alongside Deane (pictured) and Moross; awarded an OBE and MBE respectively for their services to entrepreneurship, several other notable businesspeople also received honours for their successes such as James Caan, Charlie Mullins, and young entrepreneur to watch Jamal Edwards.

On the back of a strong year for start-ups and enterprise, the list of leading entrepreneurs to have received royal honours includes:

CBE

James Caan – founder and chairman of the Start Up Loans Company. For services to entrepreneurship and charitable services through the James Caan Foundation. A keen advocate of business and entrepreneurialism, the former Dragon has been awarded the royal honour for his efforts with Start Up Loans; the government-backed programme which offers loans of up to £10,000 to new businesses. To date, Start Up Loans has invested in over 20,000 business ideas with over £3m funding facilitated to some of the country’s most exciting start-ups such as the Yorkshire Meatball Company and Weekend Box.

Brent Hoberman – angel investor and co-founder of lastminute.com and PROfounders Capital. For services to entrepreneurship. A dotcom pioneer having founded travel site lastminute.com with Martha Lane Fox (now Baroness Lane Fox of Soho) in 1998, Hoberman has a number of successful ventures and investments under his belt and it’s his work to support entrepreneurialism which sees him awarded a commander of the order of the British Empire. An early investor in Made.com, Hoberman boasts an impressive funding portfolio which also includes the likes of Viagogo and wayn.com.

Jenny Tooth – CEO of the UK Business Angels Association (UK BAA). For services to small businesses. A serial entrepreneur, Tooth became CEO of the UK BAA in 2012; the trade body for angel and early stage investing, and has worked to support investments in some of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses. Prior to UK BAA, Tooth co-founded Angel Capital Group and also worked closely with government to support policy and interfacing for angel investing.

OBE

Julie Deane – co-founder of the The Cambridge Satchel Company. For services to entrepreneurship. Awarded Startups Business of the Year at the Startups Awards 2011, Deane was awarded the honorary title for having turned her kitchen table start-up into the fast-growing global firm that it is today. A truly ‘Made in Britain’ start-up with all manufacturing based in the UK, Deane’s satchels are now stocked in some of the finest stores worldwide including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Lane Crawford, Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Charlie Mullins – founder and chief executive of Pimlico Plumbers. For services to the plumbing industry. Having left school aged 15 to go on to build a business with an annual turnover of over £20m, business mogul Mullins was added to the Queen’s order of chivalry for his work in supporting the growth of the plumbing sector. With over 28 apprentices at the company, Mullins is passionate about encouraging others in the industry to employ apprentices and is petitioning for government to launch a National Apprenticeship Scheme.

William Butler Adams – managing director of Brompton Bicycles. For services to UK manufacturing. The CEO of the company which designs and manufactures the bespoke Brompton bike, Butler Adams has scaled the West London-based business to 42 export markets including the USA and Canada; a manufacturing success story which sees him recognised with an order of chivalry.

MBE

Richard Moross – CEO and founder of Moo.com. For services to entrepreneurship. The man behind one of the leading names in custom greeting cards and printing, Moross has achieved phenomal growth which sees him awarded an MBE. A Growing Business Young Gun in 2008, Moross has continued to evolve Moo.com and the business now boasts  annual revenues of over £20m.

Shaa Wasmund – founder of Smarta. For services to business and entrepreneurship. After a career working to promote the likes of former-world super-middleweight champion boxer Chris Eubank and inventor Sir James Dyson, Wasmund helped launch Deckchair.com with Sir Bob Geldof. Other internet ventures followed, before Wasmund launched Smarta.com.

Jamal Edwards – founder and CEO of SBTV. For services to music. An inspirational young entrepreneur, Edwards started SBTV aged just 15 and has gone on to build a brand which  has quickly become a viral success (over 300 million views on Youtube and growing) and one which has helped to support leading artists such as Ed Sheeran, Drake and Jessie J. An ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, Startups listed Edwards as one of 14 young entrepreneurs to watch and it appears the Queen has also taken note.

Emma Willis – founder of Emma Willis Ltd. For services to entrepreneurship. Supporting the British manufacturing industry, Willis designs and makes her men’s luxury shirts in country and her fast-growth success with the Gloucestershire-based firm sees her awarded with a most excellent order of the British Empire.