University of Portsmouth Chancellor Karen Blackett OBE has been awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours List 2025 for services to Advertising and the Creative Industries.
University of Portsmouth Chancellor Karen Blackett OBE has been awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours List 2025 for services to Advertising and the Creative Industries.
Karen Blackett is a business leader with over 30 years of experience in the marketing communications industry.
She began her impressive career after graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 1992 with a degree in geography. Her first role was at CIA MediaNetwork and she was quickly head-hunted by The Media Business Group, where she received many promotions, starting in the Board of Directors in 1999 and moving to Chairwoman of MediaCom UK & Ireland in 2016.
In 2018 Karen became U.K. Country Manager for WPP, the global creative transformation company based in 112 countries, she oversaw WPP’s second largest market and the 12,000 people working across its operating brands in the UK. She became U.K President in 2022.
I am thrilled to receive this honour for my time in the Advertising and Creative Industries - an industry sector that I have thoroughly loved and enjoyed. I am pleased that I was able to make a positive difference.
Karen was a DIT Business Ambassador for No.10, a Non-Executive Director for the Cabinet Office, and was one of four external advisors helping to diversify the Civil Service. She was appointed Race Equality Business Champion by the Prime Minister as part of the Race at Work Charter in October 2018, helping businesses address inequality at all levels.
Karen is also a non-executive for Creative UK and Diageo (a FTSE Top 10 company) and was a Trustee of MOBO Trust. In 2017 she became Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth.
Karen received an OBE in 2014 for services to media and communications, and in 2019 she was honoured by the professional body, IPA, in recognition of her outstanding services to the advertising industry.
Following the New Year Honours nomination, she said: “I am thrilled to receive this honour for my time in the Advertising and Creative Industries - an industry sector that I have thoroughly loved and enjoyed. I am pleased that I was able to make a positive difference”.
More than 1,200 people from fields including sport, business, entertainment and politics are recognised in this year's list. The New Year Honours are awarded by the King following recommendations by the prime minister or senior government ministers. Members of the public can also recommend people for an award.
The majority of people on the honours list are appointed as an MBE, OBE or CBE but a few are conferred with more prestigious awards.
In this New Year Honours list seven people are made Companion of the Order of the Bath, while 35 are made either Knight Bachelor or Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Former England football manager Gareth Southgate and actor Stephen Fry have both been knighted in the list that also recognises the stars of the Olympic Games.
As well as celebrating the success of people already in the public eye, it also highlights the unsung achievements of people who make major contributions to their local communities, to charities and to fields such as education and healthcare.
The full New Year Honours list is available here.