Paul Winter, CEO of Ipswich Building Society, has been awarded an MBE in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List.

The award was in recognition of his work in promoting skills training and employment opportunities for young people in east Suffolk.

Three years ago, Winter headed up the successful bid for Ipswich to gain funding through the Government’s City Deal initiative, bringing large scale investment to the town and surrounding areas.  This helped to boost the skills of young people, increase economic prosperity in the area and led to the opening of MyGo in Ipswich – the UK’s first employment centre for young people aged 16-24. MyGo is a multi-service initiative offering practical skills development and training to elevate young people into sustainable employment.

Winter said: “Chairing the City Deal and bringing investment to Ipswich, and opening MyGo, was a great achievement but also the result of a the hard work of a lot of people.

“I am delighted to have been awarded an MBE and will continue to work on improving the education and employment skills of young people in our county.”