The 2026 New Yr Honours Checklist has highlighted a broad cross-section of UK enterprise leaders, rewarding contributions from high-growth sectors, company stewardship, entrepreneurship and efforts to widen enterprise alternative and funding.
Whereas the honours system casts a large internet throughout public service, arts, charity and science, a number of recipients stand out for his or her direct impression on the UK’s economic system and enterprise panorama.
Banking, finance and company management
Gary Andrew Hoffman — CBE
Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for companies to the economic system and sport, Hoffman is Chair of Monzo Financial institution Holding Group and Monzo Financial institution Ltd. His stewardship comes amid a interval of speedy evolution in digital banking and a renewed concentrate on buyer belief and regulatory compliance in UK fintech.
Ian Graham King — CBE
Awarded a CBE in recognition of his function as Chief Govt Officer of BAE Techniques and as Lead Non-Govt Director for the Division for Transport. King’s management at one of many UK’s largest defence and aerospace corporations underscores the strategic significance of superior manufacturing and technology-driven exports to the UK economic system.
Entrepreneurship and small enterprise champions
Jonathan Piers Daniel Linney — OBE
Honoured for his companies to small enterprise, entrepreneurs, buyers, banking and variety, Linney is the Executive Chair of Implement AI Ltd, an organization on the intersection of expertise adoption and SME scaling. His recognition displays the rising profile of AI-enabled companies in supporting UK startups and funding readiness.
Akin Onal — OBE
Founder and Chief Govt Officer of MORI, Onal has been awarded for companies to entrepreneurship. His work is broadly related to championing the UK’s start-up ecosystem and fostering inclusive paths to enterprise progress.
Marie Sarah Owen — OBE
Owen, Founder and Chief Govt of LS Productions, was recognised for companies to the inventive industries and financial growth, a nod to the more and more important function that inventive and media companies play in financial vibrancy and regional progress.
Sector management and business our bodies
Mark Bamforth — OBE
Govt Chairman of Kincell Bio and Basic Associate at Kineticos AMR Accelerator Fund, Bamforth acquired honours for companies to UK life sciences and UK-US enterprise relations. His cross-border work in biotech funding and strategic partnerships displays the UK’s globalising innovation economic system.
Alessandra Bellini — OBE
The previous President of the Promoting Affiliation, Bellini was recognised for her contributions to the promoting and advertising and marketing sector — industries that underpin UK inventive exports and digital media progress.
Safaraz Ali — OBE
As Chief Govt Officer of Pathway Group, Ali has been honoured for his management in range and inclusion in enterprise. This award highlights how equitable expertise and board illustration are more and more prioritised inside fashionable UK company tradition.
Joanne Liddle — OBE
Managing Director of Industrial Precision Elements Ltd, Liddle was recognised for companies to the aerospace sector in Northern Eire, a reminder of the vital function manufacturing experience performs in regional economies and nationwide provide chains.
Entrepreneurial legacy and scale-up impression
Richard David Harpin — Knight Bachelor
Knighted for his companies to enterprise, Harpin (pictured) is the founder and former CEO of HomeServe, a £4.1bn residence help enterprise that now employs round 9,000 individuals. His profession embodies the scale-up journey from start-up founder to business disruptor, and his current work with coverage on apprenticeships emphasises enterprise’s function in workforce growth.
What this yr’s listing highlights is each range of contribution and the newer nature of enterprise impression in Britain: from tech and fintech to manufacturing and inventive industries, the honourees span sectors that collectively form financial resilience and future alternative.
This years honours sign areas of progress and affect, and underscore how recognition on the nationwide degree usually mirrors broader themes in enterprise coverage and funding.
