Anyone can be nominated to receive an MBE so long as they meet the necessary King’s honour criteria.

An MBE award can be given for all types of different achievement, but it is often given in recognition of community achievements or for a local "hands-on" service that has set an example to others.

A BEM (British Empire Medal) can also be awarded for sustained local achievements and high-impact work of a shorter duration.

When you recommend someone for an award it is not necessary to specify the name of the honour in your nomination as this will be decided by the committee judging the nomination.

Examples of individuals with an MBE include:

Sandbach School teacher John Lonsdale was recognised with an MBE for his services to education.

Tamara Heber-Percy and James Lohan, founders of hotelgroup MR & Mrs Smith received MBEs for their achievements

Martin Myers, clinical director of pathology and consultant clinical biochemist at the Royal Preston Hospital received an MBE for services to Healthcare Science

To make a nomination for an MBE you need to tell the Honours and Appointments Secretariat all about the nominee's work and achievements in an official nomination document. You also need to provide a minimum of two supporting letters for your nomination although we would recommend between five and 15 letters.

Awards Intelligence can help you nominate someone for an MBE, or any other King’s honour award, by professionally handling the whole nomination process for you.

A nomination for an honour cannot be resubmitted year on year until the desired result is achieved. If your nomination is unsuccessful you cannot re-nominate until a minimum of two years has passed, and then the nomination must show a significant difference to the first to be considered at all.

We can make sure your nomination has the best possible chance of getting the right result from the start. 

You can't nominate yourself for an MBE, you can only be nominated for an MBE by someone else; for example a friend, family member or colleague who would like to see your achievements formally recognised with a King's honour.

If someone would like to make a nomination for you, they can either do this themselves or they can enlist the help of Awards Intelligence to gather all the evidence, details and material for the nomination and give it the very best chance of success. We have probably drafted more successful nominations than anyone else in the world.

As soon as possible! Honours nominations for MBEs are considered all year long. However, the honours process involves a consideration period of around 12 - 18 months from receipt of your nomination, and the nominee must still be involved in the service for which they are being nominated, so it is important to get the nomination in the queue as soon as possible.

Too many people wait to put forward their nomination and are disappointed when an unexpected change or delay prevents their nominee from getting the honour they deserve.

Any further achievements the nominee has during the consideration process can always be added to the existing nomination later on, so don't delay your nomination because you are waiting for a project to finish or until the nominee retires or they may never get the award they deserve!

There are different honours committees available to judge nominations for specific types of work and achievement, (for example health, education or the economy) and the main Honours Committee who review all types of honours nominations.

The committees are made up of independent experts as well as senior civil servants, and it is these individuals who decide whether a person should receive an MBE, OBE, CBE, knighthood or damehood.

Absolutely not. Awards Intelligence offers a highly professional service that is transparent, objective and fair. 

Awards Intelligence has never embarked upon a lobbying campaign and has no connection with any government department or committee.

The Awards Intelligence team work entirely independently from the government and any other group. It is always important to remember that honours are open to all, they cannot be bought.

We do not decide who should and shouldn't be awarded an honour, however we will ensure that the nominee meets all the relevant criteria before offering to help with the nomination.

An MBE nomination should accurately and persuasively inform the honours committees about the nominee's roles, contributions and achievements.

An Awards Intelligence nomination does exactly this, maintaining an evidence-based, factual yet compelling approach at all times.

Many nominees have reported that getting an MBE in recognition of their work has made a real difference to the work they are doing and to their lives:                         

• Receiving an MBE can provide much needed positive publicity to the nominee's chosen charity, community effort or profession, allowing them to build on their achievements and contribute even more to society
• A raised personal profile and enhanced reputation is also enjoyed by many individuals with an MBE award.
• MBE recipients may enjoy a greater degree of trust, respect and acceptance of their ideas, work and projects.
• Attracting new business or personal opportunities may be another benefit of receiving an MBE.