Mohan Mansigani, an Indian-origin businessman and charity worker from north London, recently received his Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) honour at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London. The 65-year-old was conferred the honour for charitable services to healthcare in the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 Birthday Honours list in June last year. He is the trustee of the St John Ambulance – charity providing first aid and emergency medical services primarily through volunteers. He collected the OBE from Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, St John’s Ambulance Commandant-in-Chief (Youth).
A Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Chartered Accountants, who joined St John Ambulance’s board in July 2016, called himself “lucky to give back to the country” that has given him so much through his work at St John and the Migration Museum.
He added, “As the son of immigrants and as a boy from Islington, being honoured in this way is beyond my wildest dreams. I would like to dedicate this award to my wife Renu Mansigani who has selflessly taught young children human values over the last 20 years through the Mill Hill Sai Centre and is truly worthy of recognition.”
His father came to London in 1951 with the aim to support his family back in India, and had plans of returning after achieving the goal. However, he stayed back, and from humble beginnings built a successful business and raised a family.
“I was the first in my family to go to university and went on to qualify as a chartered accountant. From there I had a career as finance director of a number of restaurant chains including Costa Coffee and Cafe Rouge,” he said.
After the successful sale of his last business, he joined St John Ambulance, and played a pivotal role in securing funding to maintain the financial viability and enable the charity’s teams – including almost 30,000 new vaccination volunteers – to support the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) and local communities by delivering more than 1.6 million hours of activity.
