A retail boss has scooped a royal accolade.

Minnie Moll, joint chief executive for the East of England Co-op, has been appointed by the Prince of Wales as his Ambassador for Responsible Business in the East of England.

The prince personally appoints 12 inspirational, regional business figures to represent his responsible business network and lead other businesses to take action to address key issues.

Minnie was chosen for her personal impact and for demonstrating strong leadership through her role at the East of England Co-op.

Business in the Community (BITC) is The Prince’s Responsible Business Network. It aims to create positive social and economic impact through business engagement, employment, enterprise and culture. It engages thousands of businesses through its programmes driven through a core membership of more than 800 organisations, from small enterprises to global corporations.

Minnie said she felt “honoured” to be appointed and “proud” to stand alongside other strong ambassadors chosen for their leadership in transforming business.

“It is now accepted that businesses have a key role in the communities in which they operate and have an obligation to help build resilient communities alongside local economic growth,” she said.

“As a co-op it is in our DNA to be a responsible business and support communities, so I look forward to spreading the message across the region, building on our support of local producers, and engaging the business community in this important agenda.”

One of Minnie’s ambitions in her new role is to drive the East of England Co-op’s commitment to supporting dementia awareness and inspire other businesses to take action. The East of England Co-op has trained more than 3,000 of its colleagues as Dementia Friends, has won an award for Staff Education at the national Better Society Awards, and has been nominated for a prestigious Princess Royal Training Award.

Working with BITC, Minnie will make this award winning training available for free to businesses across the East of England, in a bid to help more companies become dementia friendly. She will also sit on the BITC East of England Advisory Board and will champion the East of England’s Co-operative’s practice and principles, leading on a BITC ‘Seeing is Believing’ event.

Minnie takes on the role from Southwold brewer Adnams’ chief executive Andy Wood.

It had been “a great honour” to fulfil the role over the last two years, he said,

“I have been involved in some exciting and valuable programmes such as ‘Seeing is Believing’ and the launch of ‘VETS East’. I am certain Minnie will continue to build upon these great foundations.”