The OBE has been given in recognition of Dr Bannan’s services to the UK economy, international trade and inward investment.
Referring to his appointment, Bannan says: “To receive the OBE is obviously a huge thrill, a tremendous honour and very surprising. In business you occasionally meet people who have been granted such recognition, but never imagine it might happen to you. It is also very humbling, because you are being rewarded as an individual for what is, in truth, the combined and sustained efforts and creativity of many people in business – many of whom have gone before you and laid the foundations of success.”
He adds: “Without the commitment, skills and imagination of the people who have worked in and led PTG – and before that, Holroyd – what has been built and exists today might never have been,” he continued. “I am lucky to have benefited from a strong legacy, and I remind myself and those around me of this fact very often. It is very important to recognise our duty to successive generations.”
Bannan joined PTG company Holroyd Precision as technical director in 1999, becoming managing director of PTG’s machine tools divisions (Holroyd Precision, Binns & Berry and Crawford Swift) in 2007. He became group chief operating officer in September 2008, and then PTG’s group chief executive officer in June 2010.
Under Bannan’s leadership, the export-driven manufacturer of special-purpose CNC machine tools was acquired by Chongqing Machinery & Electric Co Ltd (CQME), a large Chinese industrial group that employs approximately 40,000 people, is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and achieves annual sales in the region of $1.5 billion.
Since acquisition, PTG has experienced considerable sales growth, with turnover in excess of £20 million in 2015. On its part, parent company, CQME, has invested considerably in the Rochdale business, further securing the future of PTG’s UK workforce. CQME allows for a significant proportion of PTG’s profits to be retained in the UK for the development of new products and markets, and to support investment in R&D, training and skills, trade exhibitions and publicity.
In 2015 Holroyd Precision received its fourth Queen’s Award for Enterprise, for international trade, having achieved year-on-year growth in exports.
