BPA's Richard Ballantyne awarded OBE in New Years Honours

Richard Ballantyne, Chief Executive of the British Ports Association, has been awarded an OBE in the New Years Honours list.

The award is in recognition of Richard's services to the maritime industry, which over the last two years have involved working tirelessly with government and industry to ensure ports' contribution to keeping the country supplied and the needs of the industry were well understood by government.

Richard has also worked closely with government to represent the industry through the process of the UK's departure from the EU. This has helped ensure that the border has continued to operate as smoothly as possible and has helped to keep the industry's interests high on the political agenda.

Richard joined the British Ports Association in 2007 and became the Chief Executive in 2016. He represents the BPA on a number of industry bodies and is a member of a wide range of government stakeholder groups and international committees. He is aldo a Director of Maritime UK and a trustee of the seafarers charity the Merchant Navy Welfare Board.
Commenting on the news, Neil Glendinning, Chairman of the British Ports Association and Chief Executive of Harwich Haven Authority, said:

"I am delighted that Richard’s hard work and achievements for the industry through the British Ports Association over the last 15 years, the last five as Chief Executive, have been formally recognised with this OBE. It particularly recognises Richard’s efforts throughout the pandemic in raising the level of awareness of the essential services delivered by ports at the highest levels of government."

"Richard has been critical to efforts to champion the part that ports have played in keeping essential goods flowing during these difficult times."

"Through his efforts in promoting the sector, ports are in the public eye as never before and this award acknowledges the serious work that Richard has put in to the industry and to the nation – well done Richard!"

Neil Glendinning OBE

About BPA
The British Ports Association is the national association for ports and harbours and it represents the interests of more than 400 ports, terminal operators and port facilities. The UK ports industry plays a key role in the country’s economy as 95% of the UK’s international trade – imports and exports – is carried through British ports. UK ports also typically handle more than 60 million international and domestic passenger journeys each year. The UK port industry is the second largest in Europe, handling around 500 million tonnes of freight each year. UK ports directly employ around 115,000 people.