The University of the West of England has made Ruby McGregor-Smith, the chief executive of outsourcing giant MITIE, an honorary Doctor of Business Administration.
The honour is in recognition of her significant national and local contribution to business through the distinctive culture she has created within Bristol-based MITIE.
Since joining the group, initially as finance director in 2002, its revenue has grown from £500m to more than £1.8bn, continuing its unbroken track record of profit and revenue growth.
The university said: “Ruby has been able to grow the business while maintaining the founding principles of rewarding success and offering opportunity to people whatever their background. She has enabled MITIE to continue its equity reward structures and is working to put in place new, wider reward mechanisms to attract and retain talent across the company.”
It adds that she has challenged the practices of a small growth business, introducing new and more robust systems, developing the commercial success of the business, recruiting key personnel who would fit with MITIE’s entrepreneurial culture, and influencing its acquisition strategy.
Born in Lucknow, India, Ruby graduated from Kingston University in 1985 and qualified as an accountant in 1990.
She was appointed chief executive in 2007, joining a small number of women holding the position of chief executive in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, and she is the first Asian woman to be appointed in such a role within that group of companies.
