ANDY Wood, the chief executive of Suffolk brewing and leisure retail company Adnams has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Ashcroft International Business School, part of Anglia Ruskin University.

Mr Wood, who began his career at Norwich Union, now Aviva, has been with Adnams for 14 years, playing a key role in making it one of the most environmentally friendly businesses in the UK.

Having joined Adnams in 1996 with responsibility for developing its customer service and supply chain operations, he was appointed to the board in 2000. He became managing director in 2006 and was appointed chief executive earlier this year.

He has a doctorate in Business Administration, having studied part-time at Cranfield University for four years, and lectures at a number of business schools.

The university has also awarded honorary degrees to Essex-born actress Juliet Stevenson; world heavyweight boxing champion David Haye; Mark Wood, a former UK chief executive at AXA and Prudential; Johnson Matthey chief executive Neil Carson; Lyndon Jones, chief executive of the Association of British Executives; Colin Walsh, managing director of Book Production Consultants; Bryony Pawinska, chief executive of the College of Optometrists; Welsh poet and novelist Grahame Davies; Scottish film-maker Murray Grigor; poet and novelist John Burnside, and mental health campaigner Peter Campbell.