Oldest sufferer of Put up Workplace scandal awarded OBE in New 12 months Honours 2026
Betty Brown, the oldest dwelling sufferer of the Put up Workplace scandal, was awarded an OBE within the 2026 New 12 months Honours Record.
She has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her providers to justice by King Charles III.
Brown, 92, ran the Annfield Plain Put up Workplace in County Durham together with her late husband Oswall from 1985. However the couple had been pressured out in 2003, after spending greater than £50,000 of their financial savings to cowl non-existent shortfalls.
Brown instructed BBC Breakfast she accepted the popularity within the New 12 months Honours Record on behalf of all of the victims of the scandal.
“Each one in all them ought to have an OBE,” she mentioned. “Each one in all them, for what they’ve [Post Office] put us by means of and what we’ve got stood strong and trustworthy for. I did it for justice.
“You shouldn’t be getting a medal for being robbed by your personal authorities,” she added.
In final yr’s record, Jo Hamilton, who was wrongly convicted for false accounting in 2006, was awarded an OBE for providers to justice, together with fellow campaigning former subpostmasters Lee Castleton, Seema Misra and Christopher Head.
Rebecca Thomson, the previous Pc Weekly reporter whose investigation led to the Might 2009 story that first uncovered the scandal, was additionally rewarded with an OBE at the moment.
This yr’s record, the third within the reign of Charles III, noticed 1,157 folks obtain awards. A Cupboard Workplace assertion mentioned the general theme this yr was communitarian in nature.
Prime minister Keir Starmer mentioned: “This yr’s Honours Record celebrates the easiest of Britain – individuals who put the frequent good forward of themselves to strengthen communities and alter lives.
“Their quiet dedication speaks to the respectable, compassionate nation we’re proud to be. On behalf of the entire nation, thanks – and congratulations to everybody recognised at present.”
Amongst these from the UK expertise neighborhood who acquired awards was Daljit Singh Rehal, chief digital and data officer (CDIO) at HM Income and Customs (HMRC), who was made a Companion of the Order of the Bathtub, one step solely under knighthood, for providers to expertise and to public service. The previous Centrica IT chief was appointed as HMRC’s CDIO in 2020, and was quantity two on the Pc Weekly UKtech50 record in 2025, second solely to the storied Demis Hassabis, founder and CEO of Google DeepMind.
Pamela Maynard, chief synthetic intelligence transformation officer at Microsoft, acquired an OBE for providers to enterprise and to expertise. She has additionally featured in Pc Weekly’s annual record of probably the most influential ladies in UK expertise.
And Karen Louise Blake, recently CEO of Tech Expertise Constitution, acquired an MBE for providers to expertise and to range. She figures within the Ladies in Tech Taskforce, launched by the UK authorities’s expertise secretary, Liz Kendall, in December 2025.
Others from the UK expertise trade neighborhood recognised embrace the next.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
Matthew John Brittin, for providers to expertise and to enhancing digital abilities.
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Philip Steven McBride, recently managing director of Thales Northern Eire, for providers to the defence trade.
Matthew Agar, technique director at Constructing Digital UK, for providers to digital infrastructure and broadband.
Shah Ruhul Amin, co-founder and chief architect at Onfido, for providers to fintech and synthetic intelligence.
Simon Grunwell, deputy director of Covert Operations Digital Exploitation, for providers to public service.
Deborah Kellsey Millar, director of digital transformation at Hull School, for providers to additional schooling.
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
Matthew Peter John Baker, for providers to expertise and to wi-fi communications.
Sarah Ellis, director of inventive innovation on the Royal Shakespeare Firm, for providers to expertise within the arts
Eric Alain Dilworth, programme supervisor for the Made Smarter Adoption Programme at The Development Firm, for providers to enterprise progress and digitalisation.
British Empire Medal (BEM)
Professor Simon Pearson, founding director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Meals Expertise on the College of Lincoln, for providers to agricultural innovation and schooling.
Dr Thomas Antony Goodman, for providers to expertise within the West Midlands.
Considerably adjoining to the expertise sector, Andrew John Scott, professor of economics on the London Enterprise Faculty and senior director of economics on the Ellison Institute of Expertise, Oxford, is being made a Companion of the Order of the Bathtub for providers to economics.
And from the broader enterprise world, Michelle Ferguson, the director of the Confederation of British Trade Scotland, is being awarded an OBE for providers to the economic system. Akin Onal, founder and CEO of Mori, has additionally been awarded an OBE for his providers to entrepreneurship.
The Cupboard Workplace assertion famous that ethnic minority illustration on the record at “greater awards” has doubled from 7% to 14%.
