Leading businessman appointed as county’s new Lord Lieutenant

Barry Dodd has been appointed as the monarch’s Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire, a position which includes a host of high-profile duties ranging from the presentation of decorations to overseeing official Royal visits to the county.

The new role comes in addition to Mr Dodd’s current responsibilities as the chairman of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership and the Pro-Chancellor and chairman of the council at the University of Hull.

He is also the chairman of the Global Service and Manufacturing Group and its subsidiary companies.

Mr Dodd said: “It is a huge honour to be appointed as Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire – the most wonderful county in England.

“This is not a role anybody can apply for, so the initial invitation letter from the Prime Minister came as a complete surprise.

“I look forward to working with my Deputy Lieutenants on a mission to bring the benefit of the amazing ‘fairy dust’ of the Monarchy to as many organisations as possible.”

The honour follows on from the OBE which Mr Dodd was awarded in 2006 for services to business and the economy, as well as the CBE he was given this year for services to the UK economy.

He was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for North Yorkshire only earlier this year.

Mr Dodd will be replacing Lord Crathorne, who will be retiring from the post of North Yorkshire’s Lord Lieutenant on Friday next week.

The position of Lord Lieutenant is non-political, unpaid and is held until retirement.

The origins of the country’s Lord Lieutenants can be traced back to the Tudor era when Henry VIII first made the appointments to a number of English counties during the 1540s.