The boss of Sainsbury’s who helped turn around the grocer’s fortunes is among leading figures from the business world to be recognised in the new year honours list.
Simon Roberts, who has been chief executive of the UK’s second largest supermarket since 2020, has been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the retail industry.
His tenure has included leading Sainsbury’s through the Covid pandemic as well as the cost of living crisis while improving its market share, helping its stock price rise by about three-quarters.
Roberts courted controversy during 2025 as he was accused of “Orwellian” tactics for trialling facial recognition technology to combat shoplifting and embarked on a programme to axe 3,000 jobs as part of a £1bn cost-cutting drive while being paid more than £5m in the supermarket’s financial year to 1 March.
The businessman was a member of the then prime minister Rishi Sunak’s 2023 business council and took over as president of the Institute of Grocery Distribution in 2024.
Elsewhere in the business sector, the former National Grid chief executive John Pettigrew has been made a CBE for services to energy.
He ran National Grid, which runs much of Britain’s electricity grid, for almost 10 years until leaving the role in November. He had joined the business as a graduate in 1991.
In the defence industry, the former chief executive of BAE Systems Ian King becomes a CBE for services to the transport and defence sectors.
He led the FTSE 100 firm, which is Europe’s biggest defence contractor, for nearly a decade until his retirement in 2017 after a career spanning more than 40 years in the sector.
Gary Hoffman, the chair of the online bank Monzo who was previously the chief executive of Northern Rock, has also been made a CBE.
Hoffman, who was parachuted into Northern Rock in 2008 after it almost collapsed during the financial crisis, has been recognised for services to the economy and sport.
He was chair of the Premier League from 2020 to 2022 but faced criticism over his handling of Newcastle United’s takeover by a group led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. He was also partly blamed for playing a role in the European Super League scandal.
This month there were reports that a number of investors were calling for Hoffman to be ousted from his role at Monzo.
Matt Brittin, who led Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa until the start of 2025 and is now a non-executive director of Guardian Media Group, has been awarded a CBE for services to technology and to enhancing digital skills.
Pamela Maynard, Microsoft’s chief AI transformation officer, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE), as have Unilever’s research and development head, Jonathan Hague, and Peter Higgins, an entrepreneur who co-founded the menswear business Charles Tyrwhitt.
