New Year Honours: Former Ofcom head Sharon White becomes dame

Sharon White, the former head of the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, has been recognised on the New Year Honours list.

Ms White was chief executive of Ofcom for four years, during which she oversaw the regulator taking on more responsibilities.

She was made a Dame for her “public service” at Ofcom.

Ms White said she was “very grateful” for the award and paid tribute to her former colleagues.

“This is really a recognition of the hard work and dedication of my colleagues at Ofcom,” she said, in a short statement.

Ofcom is the UK’s telecoms regulator, overseeing telephone and broadband services, mobile networks, and television and radio broadcasts.

During Ms White’s time in charge, Ofcom became the first external regulator of the BBC. Previously, complaints had been handled by the BBC Trust.

Ms White left Ofcom in November 2019 to become chair of the John Lewis retail group.

Other people connected to the technology industry named on the list included:

Ciaran Martin, chief executive officer of the National Cyber Security Centre has been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath
Caroline Hargrove, chief technology officer of Babylon Health, which runs the NHS GP at Hand app. She was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to engineering
Tim Robinson, a non-executive director at the Department for International Development. He has previously worked with lottery operator Camelot and the charity Oxfam. He was made CBE for services to digital technology
Jeanette Forbes, chief executive of Aberdeen-based IT firm PCL Group. She was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to business, technology and charity
Andrew Wylie, co-founder of software company Sage, who is knighted for services to business and charity

British honours are awarded on merit, for exceptional achievement or service.