Queen's Birthday Honours: Knighthood for Timpson shoe repair business boss

John Timpson and his late wife Alex fostered 90 children

The driving force behind a Manchester-based shoe repair and key-cutting business has been awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

John Timpson, 74, from Tarporley in Cheshire, received the honour for services to business and fostering.

Alongside his career in business and being a father to five children, Mr Timpson and his late wife Alex fostered 90 children throughout their marriage.

He said fostering had "taught me a lot about people".

Mr Timpson has run the Timpson business - set up by his great-grandfather in 1865 - for 42 years and prides himself on an "upside-down management approach" which is "not bothered by qualifications or CVs".

"We just look at the candidate and work out who they are," he said.

Oldham's Sarah Lancashire becomes an OBE

Other Greater Manchester and Cheshire appointments include Universal Credit development director Janice Hartley, who becomes a Companion of the Order of the Bath, and parish councillor Sylvia Jenkinson, who becomes an MBE for her work in the aftermath of the Bosley mill explosion.

In the world of arts, the musical director of the Halle Orchestra, Sir Mark Philip Elder, is appointed a Companion of Honour, while Oldham-born actor Sarah Lancashire is appointed an OBE, while in sport, rugby league's Terry Flanagan becomes an MBE.