Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 

Bidesh Sarkar, Chief Financial Officer at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Board, is among 10 ICAEW members who received awards in the King’s 2024 New Year Honours List.

Sarkar was awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours List for public service.

As well as his role on the board, Sarkar is DBT’s Interim Director General, Chief Operating Officer. He is also DBT’s Senior Information Risk Owner and serves as the executive committee champion for diversity and inclusion. Previously, the chartered accountant was Interim Director General, Chief Operating Officer at the Department for International Trade (DIT). 

Prior to joining DIT, Sarkar was CFO and corporate services lead at national academy school organisation Academies Enterprise Trust and also the British Council. He has held CFO positions at venture capital firm Blenheim Chalcot and international development organisation Plan International, among other roles.

Sarkar says: “It’s such a privilege to have been honoured in this way, and to be honoured for public service is very special. I am very conscious, though, that I have been incredibly lucky to have worked with so many amazing colleagues across my career, who go above and beyond every single day, and who this honour is testimony to.”

Kevin Ellis, Alliance Senior Partner, PwC UK and Middle East, was also awarded a CBE for services to economic growth and expanding social mobility. Ellis, who was elected Chairman and Senior Partner of PwC’s UK and Middle East alliance in 2016, specialises in providing turnaround and crisis management support to clients in the public and private sectors.

He says: “It’s a huge honour to receive a CBE and not something I would have ever envisaged when I joined PwC UK in 1984. It’s been a privilege to spend my career at the firm, leading it for the past eight years. PwC, the professional services sector and the economy has grown significantly in that period and seen enormous change. Growth has enabled us to open up opportunity to more people, widening access to jobs and supporting careers and social mobility. I’m proud to have played my part, but there is always further progress to be made.”

Lynn Pamment, Chair of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board, was also awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours List for public service in her role as Chair of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to the UK HM Treasury.

Pamment, who is also Comptroller and Auditor General for Jersey at the Jersey Audit Office, has more than 28 years of experience of working in advisory and assurance roles in public and private sector organisations in England and Wales. Also a Cipfa member, Pamment sits on the Business in the Community Wales Advisory Board. 

Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Three chartered accountants were awarded the OBE. James Ainscough received the award for his work in service to music and musicians. Currently CEO of the Royal Albert Hall, he was previously CEO of Help Musicians, a charity for professional musicians of all genres, both in work and in retirement. 

Under his leadership, Help Musicians gave essential support during the pandemic, distributing £20m of financial hardship funding, providing a multi-million-pound career-rebuilding support programme and launching the Music Minds Matter charity, providing mental health care for the industry. 

OBEs were also awarded to:

Bruce Gordon, Chair and Founder Member of the Honorary Treasurers Forum, for charitable service.

Kerry Jackson, CEO of St Gemma's Hospice, was awarded an OBE for services to palliative and end-of-life-care.

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Gordon Richardson, Treasurer, Walking Alliance, for services to disability access.

Peter Mountford, Executive Chairman of Heropreneurs, for voluntary services to Armed Forces personnel.

Daniel Herman, FCA, for his services to education and to Holocaust awareness.

British Empire Medal (BEM)

John Humphreys, FCA, former Chairman of the British Charitable Fund and volunteer in the British community in Belgium, was awarded the BEM for services to the British community in Belgium.