A former Tenby man was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in recognition of his services to UK financial services.
Peter Griffiths, son of the late Arthur Griffiths and Mrs. Betty Griffiths, who still lives in the town, has been chief executive of Principality, Wales's largest building society, since March 2002.
He is chairman of Principality Group companies Peter Alan Ltd, Nemo Personal Finance Ltd and was former chairman of the CBI Council in Wales. He is also currently deputy chairman of the Building Societies Association.
He previously worked for NatWest, between 1977 and 2000, having started his career in the Tenby branch straight from school.
A past pupil of Greenhill School, he maintains that he learnt his business skills working for John Rees, a well known Tenby character in his former fruit shop in Tudor Square in the 1970s.
An ex-bingo caller and barman in his teenage years, he progressed his 30-year career in commercial banking alongside a variety of management roles across the UK, including director NatWest Wales – Retail Banking.
His final job before leaving NatWest was head of commercial services - in the NatWest technology business based in London.
He moved on to become chief operating officer at Morgan Chambers Plc, a small management consultancy advising on strategic sourcing solutions for technology and business process outsourcing also based in the city.
Born in Tenby in 1958, he is the fifth of eight children. His mother and sister Sue still live in the town. His other siblings are more widespread, some still in West Wales, but others more far flung in London, Scotland and New Zealand.
He is married to Cerys and has four children aged between 14 and 22. His key interests include the family, sport, the cinema and the theatre. In January 2006, he climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, and raised £65,000 for the NSPCC in Wales.
He is a Fellow of UWIC and a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Management.
On hearing news of his award, Peter said: "I am delighted to be honoured with an OBE. In large part, this is down to the opportunity I was given to lead the Principality business over the last few years. I am the first to recognise that this achievement is not mine alone and add a huge thanks to all who have supported me along the way. It has been a hugely enjoyable privilege."
MBE FOR
WHITLAND MAN
Also honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours List was Whitland's D. Gethin Lewis, who has been awarded an MBE for services to the community in South West Wales.
Mr. Lewis was area manager for Carmarthenshire Barclays Bank from 1986 until his retirement 11 years later and was president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1996.
He has been a foundation governor of Dyffryn Taf School since 1995 and has been involved with many charities, including the Trust for Sick Children in Wales and the British Red Cross.