A BUSINESSMAN who studied catering in Huddersfield and rose to head one of Britain’s biggest companies has been knighted.
Garry Hawkes was a catering student at Huddersfield Polytechnic, now the university. He lodged at Lockwood during his student days and later lived at Honley.
He joined catering company Gardner Merchant in 1963 after National Service in the RAF and rose to become north-east regional manager before being appointed managing director in 1978 and chairman in 1997.
As head of Gardner Merchant he became known as the man behind a million meals – as the company provided food for organisations ranging from Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and Ford Motors to Eton College and the Halifax Building Society.
Sheffield-born Sir Garry, who has already received the CBE, was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his contribution to vocational training and business as president of Edge, the independent education foundation.
Sir Garry became founding chairman of Edge in 2004. The organisation is dedicated to raising the status of practical and vocational learning. He took on the role of president in March this year.
Drawing on his professional experience, Sir Garry has been leading Edge’s proposal to develop a world-class Edge Hotel School, which is a cornerstone of the national skills academy for hospitality.
Sir Garry was also chairman of qualifications provider Edexcel from 2000 to 2004.
He was key to the formation of Edge, which is funded by the money generated from the sale of Edexcel to Pearson plc in 2003.
He worked for Gardner Merchant for 38 years, having joined as a trainee district supervisor.
In 1993, as managing director, he led its buy-out from hotel operator Forte Plc – the biggest deal of its kind at the time.
A commitment to the development of vocational education led Sir Garry to join the board of BTEC in 1997.
He has also been director of Investors in People and chairman of the Basic Skills Agency.
He gained the CBE in 1999 for services to tourism and the catering industry.
