ProCon Leicestershire chairman Umesh Desai has been awarded an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours.

The recognition is for his services to education.

Mr Desai has been chairing ProCon Leicestershire for five years and has been a board member for many more.

He succeeded ProCon Leicestershire's founder and chairwoman Pam Allardice after she died in 2020.

Currently the director of estates and facilities at Birmingham City University, Mr Desai was previously in similar roles at Leicester's De Montfort University which he joined in 1990, and at Nottingham Trent University.

Qualified as a chartered building surveyor, Mr Desai has worked in the higher education sector for more than 30 years and has served as chairman of the Association of University Directors of Estates.

The honour comes just a few weeks before the deadline of the 2025 ProCon Awards which will celebrate the best new buildings and other construction projects in Leicestershire and Rutland.

The deadline for entries closes on July 9 - about the categories on offer and submit a nomination.

He said: "This honour was a tremendous surprise.

"I thank my family for their support and also the countless professionals I have worked with at the universities. Thanks, too, go to my fellow ProCon Leicestershire members."

Fellow ProCon Leicestershire board member Andy Kenyon said: "This is wonderful news for Umesh and his family. It is richly deserved recognition.

"Umesh has been and continues to be a great servant to ProCon Leicestershire and, by extension, to its member companies who together are driving forward improvements to our built environment."