Liquor company Diageo Chief Executive Person Ivan Menezes, a person of Indian origin born in Pune, was granted knighthood in the United Kingdom New Years Honours for services to business and equality.

“He is one of Britain’s longest serving FTSE [Financial Times Stock Exchange] chief executives and has transformed Diageo into the world’s leading premium drinks company, accounting for 10% [2 billion pounds] of the UK’s total food and drinks exports,” the UK Cabinet Office in a statement.

Menezes has been the head of Diageo since 2013 and has earlier several leadership positions in the company in Latin America, Asia and North America, reported The Independent.

In its statement, the Cabinet Office said that Menezes champions causes for women and minority community, noting that 42% of Diageo’s senior leadership positions globally are held by women and 37% are ethnically diverse.

“In November 2020, he announced £1billion of investment in sustainability and community initiatives and to tackle alcohol related harm,” it said. “He was chairman of Movement to Work from 2017-20, a UK voluntary organisation committed to tackling youth unemployment delivering 1,00,000 structured work placements for young people, with over 55% of participants securing permanent jobs.”

The statement also said that the Diageo chief produced 10 million bottles of hand sanitiser for healthcare workers around the world.

After getting the honorary title, Menezes said that he was incredibly honoured and thanked his colleagues for their “creativity, passion and drive” to make Diageo a global leader.