Former Citizen and Echo editor in chief, Ian Mean, has received and MBE at Windsor Castle from Princess Anne.
Ian, who is Business West’s Gloucestershire director and vice-chair of GFirstLEP, was awarded the MBE for services to the community in Gloucestershire.
He said: “It was a very proud moment for me to receive this honour on behalf of Gloucestershire.
“To me, it was significant that the award was made in the Queen’s Birth day Honours List as I was then privileged to be invited to attend her funeral at Westminster Abbey.
“So that day of the Queen’s funeral and last week’s day of my investiture at Windsor Castle really are two days in my life I will always treasure.
“The Princess Royal was very interested in my work in the county where she lives, of course, and in particular my support for organ donation in my role as chair of the Gloucestershire Organ and Tissue Donation Committee.
“Over the years editing newspapers here I have been passionate about promoting business-especially encouraging apprenticeships and just trying to make a difference on key issues for the people of Gloucestershire.”
Ian is a board member of the Forest Economic Partnership, an honorary vice president of Gloucestershire College and president of Churchdown Male Voice Choir.
He joined the Citizen as editor in 2002 and later became editor in chief of the Citizen and Echo, content director for the region before editing the Western Daily Press.
In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Gloucestershire Live Business Awards.
Previously, he had been an executive on national newspapers.