This year’s awards for making a significant contribution to Saudi-British relations were presented, on 11th February, to Andrew Mead and Ionis Thompson.
Andrew Mead has worked in and with companies in Saudi Arabia since 1980. His career has included publishing: he designed and produced the first Saudi–British Trade Directory and wrote the first Pocket Guide to Riyadh, as well as the Business Travellers’ Handbook to Saudi Arabia. Andrew formed Mead Management Services Ltd (MSSL) which has helped many British Embassies and British Business Groups in the Middle East with the promotion of trade and bilateral relations through printed media and online. He initiated ICING (International Children in Need Group) in 2004 which coordinated the efforts of the British community in Riyadh and directed funds raised to support suitable charities in the UK, Saudi Arabia and the wider region.
To read Andrew Mead’s acceptance speech, click here.
Ionis Thompson: Sir Sherard Cowper–Coles, the Society’s Chairman, has said: “Ionis Thompson, has been the Honorary Secretary of the Saudi–British Society for more than ten years. Ionis has done at least as much as any individual Briton for the relationship between the two Kingdoms, working tirelessly and without reward to organise a whole series of events – talks, lectures, dinners – focused on promoting Saudi Arabia in Britain. With characteristic modesty, she was reluctant to be nominated, and was persuaded to accept only after the Committee insisted, unanimously, pointing out that the precedent for a Committee member receiving the prize had been created by Caroline Montagu’s nomination a few years ago.”
To read Ionis Thompson’s acceptance speech, click here.