Brian Dunsby has been awarded an OBE for services to business and the communities in Harrogate.
Brian has always been a forced to be reckoned with and has been know as a individual to speak his mind and make things happens.
He is perhaps most known for his work with the Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce, holding the position of Chief Executive for 14-years, until he retired in 2016. Although Brian will always pay credit to those that have worked with him, he has often been the one to come up with a vision and motivate a team to make that vision a reality.
He has organised the Yorkshire Business Market for 12-years and Harrogate Christmas Market for 5-years.
Much of Brian’s work has been directed towards helping others, throughout his work with the Chamber and bringing businesses together at the Business Market. The vision of the Christmas Market was to bring people to Harrogate and help support local retailers and restaurants.
He has personally been very supportive of the Harrogate Informer and we thank him for that.
- He is a successful entrepreneur who has been managing and helping small businesses, trade associations and professional institutes for over 40 years. Initially he had R&D, production and general management experience in a variety of small, medium and large enterprises in the chemicals, plastics, mineral processing and building industries in the UK, before creating and building up Silvaperl Products Ltd, a unique horticultural growing media manufacturing and marketing business for 10+ years from 1977 to 1987 – then selling out very successfully to Sinclair Horticulture, owners of J. Arthur Bower’s composts.
- Brian is a Chartered Chemical Engineer who has been a Fellow of five professional Institutes, with a long record of service to the relevant professional bodies and trade associations. Sequentially he has been a member of Council of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Chairman of the John Innes Manufacturers Association and a Member of the Council of the Garden Industry Manufacturers Association in the UK. Subsequently he became the International Chairman of the Perlite Institute and Vice-President of the Vermiculite Association Inc – both US-based trade associations with a world-wide business membership
- He has since had extensive experience of trade association and professional institute management, including Chief Executive of the Institute of Business Advisers in the UK; Senior Vice-President of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) and organiser of the ICSB World Conference in 2003 with over 1,000 delegates. Brian was also an elected member of the Governing Body of WASME, the World Association of SMEs from 2001 to 2006 including a term as a Vice-President.
- In April 2008 he was honoured with Her Majesty The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. He organised two new International Enterprise Promotion Conventions in Harrogate in 2009 & 2010.
- He was Chief Executive of Harrogate Chamber of Trade & Commerce from 2002 until 2016. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Ackrill Media Group Business Awards for 2010 in Harrogate.
Brian has paid credit to the teams of people that he has had supporting him over the years.
Brian said: This is a marvellous surprise and a welcome recognition of the achievements of the Perlex Team including my wife Beryl, Office Administrator, Maggie Hall and Database Administrator, Chris Muir, supported by the Harrogate Chamber Management Group and Past Presidents’ Group, especially Mark Lancaster.
Also more recently supported by the Yorkshire Business Market, Harrogate Christmas Market and Harrogate Line Supporters’ Groups, who are all volunteers helping to by promoting the economy of Harrogate and attracting more visitors.
