Gary Elden, chief executive of international recruiter SThree, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2016.

He was made an Officer for the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his services to diversity in business.

Elden, who has been at SThree for more than 25 years, was awarded the Black British Business Person of the year in 2015 and is a trustee of the Powerlist Foundation, which runs an annual leadership programme to inspire young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Elden said: “It is an amazing honour to be awarded an OBE, particularly as part of the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations. Diversity and inclusion are very close to my heart, both at work and in the local community. At SThree, I work tirelessly to ensure a meritocratic approach to our employee’s career progression and aspirations – no matter their background, gender or religion. It’s about them as an individual.

“I want to be a role model for those who may not feel well represented at the top of the business world. I’ve remained heavily engaged with the BME [Black & Minority Ethnic] community for many years, giving numerous talks to inspire audiences of young people to believe that they can reach their full potential, regardless of their background or skin colour.”

In 2012, as part of its diversity and inclusion programme, SThree founded ‘Identity’ with the objective of providing a strategic approach to managing diversity at SThree and increase awareness of diversity and inclusion.