One of the region's most high-profile business leaders has been awarded an honorary degree in recognition of an outstanding contribution to business.
Roisin Currie, the CEO of takeaway food giant Greggs also received the honour for her commitment to diversity in the workplace and her support in creating positive futures for people leaving prison.
She is now a Doctor of Civil Law at Northumbria University, Newcastle, and said: “It is a privilege to receive this honorary degree from Northumbria University. Through my role as an Advisory Board member at the University and welcoming a number of its graduates to Greggs over the years, I have experienced first-hand not only its excellence in teaching but also its dedication and contribution to improving social mobility and levelling up the region – a key passion of mine.
"I look forward to continuing to work with the University and its student population in the years ahead as we continue to build stronger, healthier communities.”
Her appointment to lead Greggs in May 2022 created history for the 85-year-old company – one of the region’s most successful and high-profile PLCs. Roisin has been credited as a key driver in the company’s rapid growth in recent years as it continues with its ambition to have more than 3,000 stores across the UK.
Roisin is also a keen and active supporter of the Greggs Foundation, a grant-giving organisation that distributes more than £4.5 million a year to help build stronger, healthier communities.
Roisin is an advocate for improving social mobility and was integral to establishing the Greggs Fresh Start programme. Through Fresh Start, candidates who might not normally apply through mainstream recruitment processes are encouraged to learn about the opportunities at Greggs, including returning citizens and long-term unemployed.
Greggs has been able to reach over 3,400 candidates, offer 170 placements and 210 jobs including 34 management roles through Fresh Start. Roisin is also Chair of the Employers’ Forum for Reducing Re-offending, a voluntary role working with the Ministry for Justice and New Futures Network, and a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh Charity.
Having grown up in Glasgow, Roisin studied Business studies and Business Law at the University of Strathclyde in the late 1980s. She was just 15 when she entered the world of retail, working in a shoe shop at the weekend and then working a couple of evenings a week at ASDA throughout university and beyond, progressing through the ranks and into senior management.
In 2018, Roisin was featured in the Northern Power Women List, Europe's largest awarding body championing gender equality. She was also a panel judge for the 2022 Great British Businesswoman Awards.
She is already actively engaged with Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School as an Advisory Board member, providing strategic advice to the senior leadership team and strengthening an established relationship Greggs has with Northumbria by taking on student placements and employing the University’s graduates.
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