A Bury College governor has expressed his "delight" after being honoured in the New Year Honours List.

Chair of governors Peter Nicol will be awarded the Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) for his services to education.

Peter has been a member of the college's governing body since 2004.

He has served in his role as chair since 2008.

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Peter said: “I am delighted to receive this honour, which reflects the standing of the college within the community.

“I am grateful to the other board members for their support over many years.”

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Charlie Deane, principal and chief executive of the college, added: “As chair, Peter consistently sets the highest standards of governance, including by regularly refreshing membership to update skills and expertise, introduce diverse views/thinking, and respond to community need.

“Peter has inducted and mentored over 20 new governors to ensure they fully understand the role and has created an environment where they constructively contribute to the overall success of the college.

“During his tenure, Peter has overseen the college delivering education and training to over 100,000 students, including 50,000 16–18-year-olds, of whom over 95 per cent have successfully passed their course.

“His unrelenting pursuit of excellence has helped introduce key initiatives such as Positive Futures, which develops student’s key study, employability and transferable skills, and which has seen thousands of students successfully progress to university and employment.”

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At the college, 16 governors are committed to working with the management for the benefit of students.

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