Honorary awards 2021

Dominic Grieve has been recognised for services to politics and the law.

Dominic is a barrister and former MP for Beaconsfield. Educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle and Westminster School, going on to Magdalen College, Oxford where he achieved a BA in Modern History, Dominic continued his studies at the University of Westminster where he was part of the first cohort of students to take the Postgraduate Diploma in Law. 

Dominic was elected as a Conservative MP in 1997, serving as Beaconsfield’s MP until 2019. He has served as Shadow Home Secretary to David Cameron, and later as Attorney General and Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He was named Parliamentarian of the Year in 2005. 

Dominic is a patron of Prisoners Abroad, a charity that supports the welfare of Britons imprisoned overseas and their families, and a former member of the London diocesan synod of the Church of England.

Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud has been recognised for his services to the protection of the environment, services to the promotion of sustainability in the business world, and services to education.

The President and Co-Founder of OPEN for Business, and previous senior advisor for WWF, Jean-Paul studied at the University of East Anglia where he received a Bachelor for International Development, later going on to receive an MSc at Oxford University in Forestry and Land Management.

Jean-Paul has worked as a volunteer forest-researcher in Nepal, managed a forestry project for CARE International in Rwanda, and helped to establish a national park on the slopes of Mount Fako in Cameroon.

In 1990 Jean-Paul was appointed Head of the Forestry Programme with WWF UK where, in collaboration with colleagues from other NGOs, business, and government, he co-founded the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international certification system for sustainably produced wood and paper products. During his time at WWF, Jean-Paul developed One Planet Leaders, an innovative education programme for business leaders. This led to the creation of One Planet MBA, a unique MBA which focused on sustainable business and developing business leaders who could lead major companies with a new, sustainable vision. 

Samuel Ross has been recognised for his contribution to design, the creative industries and his philanthropic support of others.

Samuel Ross is a fashion designer, artist and industrial designer. Samuel studied Graphic Design at De Montfort University. His work was scouted by Virgil Abloh, who hired him as an intern and design assistant. Samuel collaborated with Abloh’s OFF-WHITE brand and Kanye West’s design business.

In 2014, Samuel founded his own menswear brand A-COLD-WALL*. The brand's aesthetic is informed by Samuel's studies in graphic design, the British class system and brutalism. By 2017, his work was showing at London Fashion Week and in 2018 Samuel was named the British Emerging Menswear Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards.

In 2019, he received the Hublot Design Prize for his multidisciplinary approach to design and communication. His winning proposal was a refuge point built to contain environmental blankets manufactured from recycled and repurposed materials.

Samuel is passionate about social change and community support. In 2019 he donated his NEWGEN bursary from the British Fashion Council to Eastwood Danso, a young menswear designer he was mentoring, enabling Danso to show at London Fashion Week. In 2020, in response to Black Lives Matter, Samuel announced a series of initiatives. Ten independent black-owned businesses received a total of £25,000 in grants from his company. Following the independent black-owned business grants, Samuel contributed a further ten grants for Black British and International artists. Samuel has now founded an academic institutional advisory board as part of a new series of grants for Black British and POC artists. 

Sir Vivian Ramsey has been recognised for his services to the construction industry.

Vivian currently sits as a judge in Singapore. He studied Engineering Science and Economics at Oxford University before becoming a chartered civil engineer. Vivian then studied for a Diploma in Law at City University. Combining his expertise, Vivian became a construction lawyer and joined a chambers which specialised in construction and real estate disputes. After only 11 years of practice as a barrister, Vivian became a QC and was called to the Bar in Hong Kong, Brune, Singapore and Trinidad.

He was elected as a bencher of Middle Temple and became Head of Keating Chambers where he introduced diversity policies. He was named as Construction Lawyer of the Year in 2005 and, in the same year, left the Bar to become a High Court judge and was knighted by the Queen.

He was appointed Master of the Worshipful Company of Constructors in 2019 and 2020 where he introduced the annual Women in Construction Award, established a company Diversity Statement and Policy, and supported diversity and inclusion.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chair of the Advisory Board for the Association for Consultancy and Engineering and FIDIC’s FCL Management Board in Geneva. He is a Visiting Professor at King’s College and edits a leading law textbook.  He has received a number of notable awards, including the President’s Medal from the Society of Construction Law, the Clare Edwards Award from the Technology and Construction Solicitors Association and the Society of Construction Law International Medal.

Tanweer Ikram has been recognised for his services to diversity in the legal profession.

Tanweer is the Deputy Chief Magistrate of England and Wales. A first-generation university student, Tanweer completed his Law degree at Wolverhampton Polytechnic before joining the University of Westminster to study for the practical component of the Bar Final Examination. Tanweer worked as a Magistrate’s Clerk in Slough before joining IBB Solicitors, becoming Head of Crime. He became a Deputy District Judge in the Magistrates’ courts in 2003.

Serving as a full time District Judge in the Magistrates’ courts from 2009-2017, Tanweer was determined to ensure court users felt that they were treated equally and fairly in his court room. He is currently the Deputy Lead of the 150 Diversity & Community Relations Judges who visit schools and community groups to break down stereotypes about judges.

Tanweer has been a constant supporter of the Law School, mentoring and celebrating the achievements of its students.

Previously undertaking the role of Deputy Lead Diversity and Community Relations Judge, in which he encouraged young people from diverse backgrounds to fulfil their potential as lawyers, Ikram was appointed by the Queen as Deputy Senior District Judge (Chief Magistrate) in 2017.

Tej Lavlani has been recognised for his services to business and entrepreneurship, and to health and wellbeing.

Tej is an internationally recognised businessman. Tej is the CEO of the nutrition company Vitabiotics, a former  investor in the BBC TV programme ‘Dragon’s Den’, and a graduate of Westminster Business School.

Tej started at Vitabiotics as a forklift truck driver in one of the company’s warehouses, before taking a rotational role in each department. Once he had built up his knowledge and experience, he took over from his father as CEO. Vitabiotics is now sold in over 100 countries, and has partnerships with Peppa Pig, Marvel and Disney. 
In 2013 Tej was recognised as Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the TiE UK Awards. Most recently, Tej ranked at number 48 on the GG2 Power List of the most Influential Asian people in Britain and was also featured on India Gazette London’s ‘The India-UK Power List 2017’.

Tej is passionate about supporting health awareness initiatives, and Vitabiotics supports a number of charities, including Bliss, a charity dedicated to supporting premature and sick babies. 

Stephen Cottrell has been recognised for services to the understanding of religion.

Born in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in 1958, Stephen Cottrell was educated at Belfairs High School and Westminster’s predecessor, the Polytechnic of Central London, where he gained his Bachelor’s degree. After a brief spell of working in the film industry he began training at St Stephen’s House in Oxford, and was ordained at the age of 26.

He then moved to West Yorkshire as Diocesan Missioner and Bishop’s Chaplain for Evangelism in the Diocese of Wakefield, and in 1998 he became a member of Springboard, the Archbishop of York and Canterbury’s team for evangelism. In 2001, Bishop Cottrell became Canon Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral, and three years later was consecrated as Bishop of Reading. He became Bishop of Chelmsford in 2010, and served there until 2020 when he became the 98th Archbishop of York. The Archbishop of York is the second most senior clerical position in the Church of England after the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He is a founding member of the Church of England’s College of Evangelists and has also chaired a group of bishops with an interest in the media. He is one of the authors of the Church of England’s pilgrim course, a major teaching and discipleship resource. He also chairs the Board of Church Army, an organisation committed to evangelism and social justice. Stephen has authored more than 30 books, covering evangelism, spirituality and discipleship.