When someone’s name appears in the Honours List followed by those three letters, it carries genuine weight.
A Commander of the Order of the British Empire sits towards the top of the civilian honours ladder, just below a knighthood or damehood, and it is awarded only to those who have made a substantial and sustained contribution to national life.
But who actually has a CBE?
The list ranges from acclaimed musicians and novelists to scientists, chief executives, and community leaders who have spent decades quietly shaping the country for the better.
This article looks at what the CBE is, who some of the most famous CBE recipients are, what the recent Honours Lists tell us about the kinds of people being recognised, and what all of these individuals have in common.
What Is a CBE?
CBE stands for Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. It is the highest rank of the Order of the British Empire that does not carry a title.
The Order has five ranks in descending order: GBE (Knight or Dame Grand Cross), KBE or DBE (Knight or Dame Commander), CBE, OBE, and MBE. The CBE sits above both the OBE and MBE, and below the two senior ranks that confer the title of Sir or Dame.
This is a point worth clarifying, because it is widely misunderstood: receiving a CBE does not make someone Sir or Dame. Those titles belong exclusively to the higher ranks of the Order, as well as knighthoods and damehoods conferred through other orders of chivalry, such as the Order of the Bath.
A CBE holder adds the letters after their name, but their title remains unchanged.
Where does it sit in the British Honours System?
The CBE occupies a particularly significant position in the system. It is the point at which the Honours Committee recognises contribution at a genuinely national or major regional level.
An MBE typically acknowledges an outstanding achievement or long-term service, often with a community or local dimension. An OBE recognises a more prominent role or a distinguished contribution to a specific field, usually with a broader reach. A CBE goes further still: it is awarded for a prominent role at a national level, or a leading role at a regional level whose significance extends well beyond the immediate area.
The committee determines which level is appropriate; a nominator’s task is to make the strongest possible case for the nominee’s contribution and let the evidence speak for itself.
It is typically awarded to senior figures who have demonstrated lasting, wide-reaching impact across a career, not for a single achievement. The citation language used by the Cabinet Office when announcing CBEs reflects this: “for services to” is followed not by a single project, but by an entire body of work, a sector, or the breadth of a career.
Recent Notable CBE Recipients
The King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 offered a strong cross-section of the kinds of people who receive CBEs. The common thread across all of them is the scale of impact and depth of their commitment over time.
Emma Bridgewater CBE
The founder of Emma Bridgewater Pottery was recognised for services to ceramics.
What makes her recognition significant is the combination of creative and commercial achievement with a deep commitment to British manufacturing. She has kept her pottery production in Stoke-on-Trent, a city whose ceramic industry had been in long decline, maintaining skilled jobs and championing a craft tradition that might otherwise have been lost.
Her CBE acknowledged both the cultural and economic dimensions of that contribution.
Douglas Perkins CBE
Co-founder and chairman of Specsavers, Perkins received his CBE for services to business and trade.
Specsavers has become the world’s largest privately owned optical and audiology retailer, and under his stewardship, it has remained a family business with a clear social purpose: making quality eye and hearing care accessible to everyone.
His recognition reflected both the scale of what he built and the values with which he built it.
Roisin Currie CBE
The Chief Executive of Greggs was recognised for services to hospitality.
Under her leadership, Greggs has grown into a national institution with over 2,400 shops and 33,000 colleagues. Currie has been outspoken on issues of food access and community value, positioning Greggs not merely as a business but as a contributor to people’s everyday lives.
Her CBE was a recognition that leading a business well, at scale, and with genuine social awareness, counts as a form of national service.
Roger Daltrey CBE (now Sir)
The lead singer of The Who received his CBE for services to charity and to music.
While his musical career speaks for itself, the honour reflects his long-standing commitment to the Teenage Cancer Trust, of which he has been a driving patron for decades. Daltrey has helped raise tens of millions of pounds for the charity, personally overseeing annual concerts at the Royal Albert Hall that have become a cornerstone of its fundraising.
His CBE acknowledged not just a legendary career but a sustained philanthropic contribution that has changed outcomes for thousands of young people.
Pat Barker CBE (now Dame)
The author of the Regeneration trilogy held a CBE before being elevated to a damehood in the 2025 Birthday Honours.
Her literary career, spanning over forty years and sixteen novels, is rooted in the examination of war, trauma, and working-class life. Her progression through the honours system is also a useful illustration of how the CBE can mark a significant milestone for those who go on to receive higher recognition still.
New Year Honours 2026: CBEs to Note
The New Year Honours List 2026 continued to reflect the breadth of what a CBE is awarded for.
Professor Wendy Carlin of University College London received a CBE for her work in economics and for founding Curriculum Open-access Resources in Economics (CORE), which has made high-quality economics education freely available to students at over 500 universities worldwide.
Professor Lorna Dawson received her CBE for pioneering forensic soil science, developing fingerprinting techniques used by Interpol and the FBI that have directly influenced major criminal trials.
Both of these recipients illustrate a defining characteristic of the CBE: the work goes significantly beyond a professional role. Carlin could have been a distinguished academic without building CORE. Dawson could have had an impressive career in soil science without dedicating decades to applying it in service of international justice.
The CBE tends to arrive at the intersection of professional excellence and a commitment that extends well beyond what the job requires.
Famous CBE Recipients Across the Decades
The CBE has been awarded to some of the most celebrated figures in British public life.
The following names offer a sense of the range and stature of the honour across different fields:
- Stephen Hawking CBE: Physicist and cosmologist, recognised for services to science
- Judi Dench CBE: Actress, recognised before her later damehood
- Hugh Bonneville CBE: Actor, known for Downton Abbey and Paddington
- Simon Rattle CBE: Conductor and artistic director, honoured before his later knighthood
- Tracey Emin CBE: One of the most significant figures in contemporary British art
- Gary Lineker CBE: Footballer and broadcaster
- Victoria Wood CBE: Comedian and writer, one of the most beloved British entertainers of her generation
Many of these recipients have gone on to receive higher honours later in their illustrious careers, including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Simon Rattle, and Dame Tracey Emin, all of whom received Knighthoods and Damehoods for their contributions to arts and culture.
What this list reflects is the deliberate breadth of the honours system.
A CBE is not awarded within a single field. Instead, it cuts across culture, business, science, sport, and public service, with the common denominator being the scale and durability of the contribution made.
What Do Famous CBE Recipients Have In Common?
Looking across the full picture of who has a CBE, certain patterns emerge clearly:
Sustained contributions
The first is that the recognition is almost never for a single moment or achievement.
The Honours Committee looks for evidence of sustained contribution over time, which means that a CBE tends to arrive after years, sometimes decades, of distinguished work.
It is not an early-career prize; it is a recognition of a body of effort.
Going above and beyond
The second pattern is influence that extends beyond the immediate role.
A CBE-level contribution is one that has shaped something: a sector, a discipline, a community, or a generation of professionals who came after.
Roger Daltrey did not receive his CBE for being in The Who. He received it for what he built alongside his career. Douglas Perkins did not receive his for running a successful business. He received it for how he ran it, and what it meant for the people who relied on it.
Voluntary contributions
The third is that a voluntary, unpaid, or discretionary contribution carries significant weight.
The committee is attuned to the difference between doing a job well and choosing to give more than the job requires. Many CBE recipients have given substantial time and resources to public causes entirely outside their professional obligations.
This selfless element is one of the most consistent features of a successful nomination.
Independent recognition
Finally, the strongest cases are those where the nominee’s contribution is recognised independently by peers, institutions, and beneficiaries.
Because a royal honour is not awarded on the basis of self-promotion.
The evidence must come from outside: from the people and organisations whose lives or work have been materially improved by what the nominee has done.
Nominating Someone for a CBE
The process of submitting a nomination for a royal honour is often shrouded in mystery. Here are some key things to remember:
Open to everyone
The honours system is open to nominations from anyone.
There is no requirement for a nominator to hold any official position, and most recipients are put forward by someone who knows their work and impact well.
When and why
Nominations are submitted through the Cabinet Office’s online portal, and successful nominees are announced twice a year, ahead of the New Year and Birthday Honours Lists.
The person submitting the nomination makes the case for why the individual deserves national recognition, supported by letters from people who can independently speak to the nominee’s contribution.
Can you nominate someone for a specific award?
As we mentioned earlier, the level of honour awarded is determined by the committee; the nominator’s role is to present the most compelling possible case, not to specify the level of the award.
The timeline
The nomination to award timeline is typically between twelve and eighteen months, though it can be longer. Many deserving nominations are reviewed across more than one cycle before an award is made.
Confidentiality
One non-negotiable requirement throughout is confidentiality: the nominee must not be informed that a nomination has been submitted.
For a closer look at where nominations most commonly fall short, our article on the top mistakes in royal honour nominations covers the critical errors that stop otherwise deserving submissions from succeeding.
Need Help With a CBE Nomination?
Putting together a strong CBE nomination is often less about having the perfect story and more about presenting the evidence clearly, credibly and in the right structure.
If you’re considering nominating someone, our team at Awards Intelligence can help you craft a nomination that reflects the standards and structure used across the British Honours System. We support our clients by:
- Identifying the most honours-relevant achievements and outcomes
- Organising evidence into a compelling, assessor-friendly narrative
- Strengthening supporting evidence (who to ask, what to include)
- Polishing tone and language so the contribution is clear, credible and proportional
Get in touch with a member of our team today to discover more about our services and how you can stand out when it comes to being recognised for a royal honour.