Former REC chief executive Marcia Roberts has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List for her services to diversity and the recruitment industry.

Speaking to Recruiter today, Roberts said: “I’m absolutely thrilled.” She added that the honour was not for her alone “but for the recruitment industry in general, the REC in particular - this is for the members and staff of the REC. It shows the value and importance the government places on the recruitment industry”.

Roberts took on the REC’s top job in September 2006 after holding the positions of, respectively, external relations director and deputy CEO. She was forced to step down in May 2007 because of illness.

She was the driving force behind the REC’s Diversity Pledge, which was launched in conjunction with Jobcentre Plus in November 2005. When she was appointed CEO, a key mission was to raise standards within the industry.