Supermarket chief gets honorary Harper degree

Harper Adams has announced it is awarding an honorary degree to supermarket boss Justin King.

Mr King, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, will be presented with his award at a graduation ceremony on 23 September.

The university said the degree was being awarded in recognition of his “leading role in the development of high quality food retailing in the UK that is committed to sustainable principles”.

The award also reflected his work with the farming industry through programmes such as the Development Group scheme and the Farming for the Future initiative, it added.

Other figures to be awarded honorary degrees include the editor of the Irish Farmers Journal Matt Demsey and Dr Geoffrey Davies, who is managing director of Alamo Group, in recognition for his role in agricultural engineering.

Dr David Llewellyn, principal of the University College, said: “We welcome the opportunity to recognise the distinguished contributions that our honorary graduates have made to the agri-food sector.  The importance of the sector to the wider public is being increasingly recognised as we all face up to the challenges of global food security. 

“In making these awards we wish to underline the importance of academia and industry working together to meet these challenges, and our commitment to continue to support the sector with high quality graduates and a strong base for applied research and knowledge transfer.”

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