31 December 2020
Irene Hays has been made a Dame in the Queen’s New Year Honours.
The Hays Travel boss was recognised ‘for services to training, to education and to young people’.
Dame Irene said: “For me it really does feel bittersweet.
“When I first heard I thought ‘I can’t wait to tell John’, and obviously John’s not here to tell. He would have been immensely proud.
“I feel this really isn’t an award just for me, it’s for all the people who have created the right environment for all those people to succeed and the apprentices and the young people themselves,” she added.
