Jim Walker, director and third-generation member of Walker’s Shortbread, was recently invested as a Knight Bachelor in recognition of exceptional services to the food industry.
Named within the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Knighthood recognizes Walker for bringing international success to a once small Scottish family business that supports both the local community and economy of Aberlour, Scotland.
Grandson of Walker’s Shortbread founder Joseph Walker, Jim Walker joined the family business in 1962 when it was still a village bakery. With his brother Joe and sister Marjorie they built the company to become today’s largest family-owned biscuit manufacturer in the U.K.
Awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1998, Walker has been responsible for Walker’s Shortbread’s sales, marketing, and export business since the early 1970s and under his leadership remains the only U.K. food manufacturer to have won the Queen’s Award for Export four times.
“I am extremely honored and touched to receive this honor from His Majesty King Charles III. It is particularly moving and poignant in being in the last birthday honors given by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” said Walker. “It is also special to be among the first honors presented by His Majesty King Charles III, whom I first had the honor of meeting many years ago”.
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