One of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs and charity fundraisers has been honoured with a Knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list.
Sage co-founder Graham Wylie, who was one of the main backers of this year’s World Transplant Games in Newcastle, said he was stunned to receive a phone call in early December from the Cabinet office, asking him if he’d been sent a letter.
“I told them I hadn’t, and they said I should have received a letter telling me it had been recommended to the Queen that I get a knighthood. You go through a range of emotions – surprise, shock, delight and then I also felt quite humbled.
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“They said: ‘We’ve got to know now if you accept it because the deadline’s passed’, so I said yes, of course. I’ve only told my wife and mother-in-law – I’ve kept it quiet.”
Mr Wylie made numerous private donations to charities over the years, but a life-saving heart operation for his daughter Kiera, now 10, set him on a new path in which he applied his business acumen to help charities grow.
Mr Wylie began fundraising for the Children’s Heart Unit Foundation (CHUF) and became a patron of the charity. In 2015 he launched his own charity, the Graham Wylie Foundation, with the ultimate goal of fundraising and providing grants to causes across the North East which help underprivileged children.
Meanwhile, Paul Smith, hailed as the man who led the charge to put the North East on the global tech map, has been awarded an OBE for services to technology in Newcastle.
Mr Smith founded Newcastle accelerator programme Ignite and Campus North eight years ago, as a business angel-led accelerator, providing support to early stage businesses through a group of seasoned mentors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
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He stepped down as chief executive three years ago and is now busy running business search engine Ricochet, while also regularly helping aspiring tech entrepreneurs through the Everyfounder venture, where experienced tech entrepreneurs help early-stage founders in the region.
He said: “I thought it was a very elaborate practical joke. You assume you’d have an inkling if that sort of thing was going to happen, but it came out of the blue - a very innocent looking letter in the post six weeks ago.
“I told four or five people I trusted, mostly out of sheer disbelief and wanting to check it wasn’t a set-up. The first person I told was my mum, who immediately set about buying a new hat for the investiture.
“The New Year’s Honours are to recognise people who make a material contribution to British society, so obviously I’m incredibly proud and humbled.
“A few days ago I counted up how many entrepreneurs and startup founders I’ve supported in individual coaching and mentoring sessions over the past 10 years, and it’s over 1,000 individuals, not just in the North East but across the country and elsewhere in the world - and that’s not including the events and meetups we’ve organised or the businesses we supported through Campus North.
“All of it was only possible because of the opportunities and belief others afforded me, so while it’s my name on the list, there are plenty of people to thank for empowering me.”
Other honours have also gone to Janice Ross, business advisor at North Tyneside Business Factory, who receives an MBE for services to small and medium-sized enterprises and to the community in North East.
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Mrs Ross spent 18 years with an accountancy firm before joining the council-backed business factory six years ago and she has since helped between 1,500 and 2,000 aspiring entrepreneurs to turn their business ideas into bona fide companies.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed by this, and really want to find out who nominated me. The biggest kick I get is when people come in, telling me they want to do something but they don’t know how to do it and then helping them do it.
“There’s a moment when the light goes on and they know they can do it. That’s my buzz, when you get those texts or emails saying ‘Janice, I’ve done it.”
John Thompson, chair of Thompsons of Prudhoe has also received an MBE, for services to the economy and to the community in Northumberland.