My MBE

Receiving my MBE at Buckingham Palace was one of the proudest moments of my life.

As I stood there to receive the honour, I found myself reflecting on a journey that began many years earlier as a fifteen-year-old school leaver making tea and coffee for a local insurance broker. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that one day I would receive such an incredible recognition.

The award recognised my work through SEICO and, perhaps even more importantly, the work of the Starr Trust, which has spent years helping young people overcome barriers and pursue opportunities that might otherwise have been beyond their reach.

Although my name appears on the certificate, I have always felt the MBE belongs just as much to the people who helped make it possible. My wife Sharon, our children Asher, Mia and Jesse, my colleagues past and present, the trustees and supporters of the Starr Trust, and the thousands of young people whose determination, courage and achievements continue to inspire everything we do.

From starting a business in a bedroom at the age of twenty-one, to building SEICO into an international business with offices in Brighton, London and South Africa, and helping the Starr Trust raise and distribute millions of pounds to support young people, it has been an extraordinary journey. Receiving an MBE was never an ambition in itself, but it remains a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life.