Financial services industry giant Ken Davy has been awarded an OBE in the King’s New Year Honours List.

He received the award for services to community rugby league football, having been the chairman of Huddersfield Giants since 1996.

The 82-year-old has served more than five decades in financial services, during which time he founded a long line of successful business ventures.

He founded compliance and support services firm SimplyBiz, now Fintel, in 2003 when he was in his early sixties. He led the firm until 2023, when he retired as chairman aged 81, although he remains as a non-exec director.

He launched the firm to provide development, research and marketing services to financial advisers in 2002.

That was a year after selling IFA network DBS to Misys for £75m. He had set up DBS in the late 1970s and oversaw it to become one of the biggest IFA network firms.

He has consistently proved to the world, well before most, that adviser firms could be well run, profitable and valuable to acquirers.

He’s written regularly in Financial Planning Today, commenting in November about the CII’s row with the Personal Finance Society.

He has penned several guest columns for the site, including reviewing the FCA's advice/guidance boundary proposals last February.

Mr Davy received his honour for his sports activities in his home town of Huddersfield. As well as being owner and chairman of the Huddersfield Giants, he was the former chairman of football team Huddersfield Town.

Other notable financial service industry honours in the King’s New Year List included a knighthood for former HSBC chief Noel Quinn for services to finance and net zero.

Mr Quinn, 62, was chief executive from 2019 until September. He carried out a turnaround plan which took the lender from underperformance to record profits in 2023.

Miles Celic, 51, boss of the lobby group TheCityUK, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to finance and professional services.

Several industry leaders were made Companions of the Order of Bath (CB), including the Department for Work and Pensions chief executive, Sarah Albon who was recognised for services to public administration.

Treasury director-general, Jessica Glover, DWP director-general, Catherine Vaughan, and UK Infrastructure Bank chief executive officer, John Flint all received CBs for public service.