A Harrogate resident has been awarded a knighthood in the King's New Year's Honours list, marking one of several recognitions for people connected to the town.
Richard David Harpin has been knighted for services to politics.
Now based in Harrogate, he is the founder of HomeServe, one of the UK’s largest home emergency businesses.
The honours list also recognises achievements in climate science, retail, community service and sport.
Professor Piers Maxwell de Ferranti Forster has been awarded a CBE for services to tackling climate change. A professor of physical climate change at the University of Leeds since 2005, he has also been involved in environmental initiatives linked to Harrogate and Knaresborough.
Simon John Roberts, who lives in Harrogate, has received a CBE for services to the retail industry. He has been chief executive of Sainsbury’s since June 2020, following a long career in senior retail leadership roles.
Community service is reflected in the award of an MBE to Caroline Jane Bayliss for her work in Harrogate and North Yorkshire. She served on Harrogate Borough Council across several decades, including a term as Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate in 2006, and held a number of senior council roles before standing down in 2016.
Another MBE has been awarded to Kambiz Ramzan Ali for services to the sport of taekwondo and the community in Harrogate. He founded the Harrogate Taekwondo Academy after beginning his involvement in the sport in Iran in the late 1980s and has since combined coaching with wider professional and international roles within taekwondo.
The New Year’s Honours list for York and North Yorkshire also includes MBEs for Miriam Elisabeth Wilcox and Terence John Wilcox for services to reducing re-offending and supporting young people, as well as a British Empire Medal for Caroline Bentham for services to the community in Ripon.
Harrogate figures named in the King’s New Year’s Honours list in full:
Knighthood
- Richard David Harpin: For services to politics – Harrogate
CBE
- Professor Piers Maxwell de Ferranti Forster: For services to tackling climate change – Harrogate
- Simon John Roberts: For services to the retail industry – Harrogate
MBE
- Caroline Jane Bayliss: For services to the community in Harrogate and North Yorkshire – Harrogate
- Kambiz Ramzan Ali: For services to the sport of Taekwondo and the community in Harrogate – Harrogate
- Miriam Elisabeth Wilcox: For services to reducing re-offending and to young people – Harrogate
- Terence John Wilcox: For services to reducing re-offending and to young people – Harrogate
BEM
- Caroline Bentham: For services to the community in Ripon – Ripon
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