Sanjay Vadera and Richard Walker included in Queen’s Birthday Honours list
The Fragrance Shop’s Sanjay Vadera and Iceland’s Richard Walker have both been included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Vadera (pictured), who is chief executive of The Fragrance Shop and chairman of Per-Scent, has been awarded an MBE for services to international trade.
Having set up Per-Scent in 1990, he acquired The Fragrance Shop in 2006. Both businesses are based in Manchester. The Fragrance Shop now has 218 stores and an annual turnover of £180 million.
Vadera said: “I’m very proud to have received this honour, particularly in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year. It’s a reflection of all the hard work that my family and all the colleagues we work with have put into the business over the years.
“It’s very satisfying to know we have made a valuable contribution to the economy and I’m also very proud that we’ve been able to share in that success and support wonderful children’s charities such as Rays of Sunshine through our Spray a Little Happiness Foundation.”
Meanwhile, Iceland managing director Richard Walker has been awarded an OBE for services to business and the environment.
Walker took up the managing director role in 2018, but prior to that worked with the group’s The Food Warehouse business as managing director and also as international business director at Iceland Foods.
In a tweet, Walker said: “Shocked and hugely honoured to have been awarded an OBE for services to business and the environment in today’s Birthday Honours List – which I accept on behalf of the real business heroes: my 30,000 Iceland colleagues.”
