Chair of Care England and Hallmark Care Homes Avnish Goyal has been presented with a CBE by the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace.

Avnish, founder of Hallmark Care Homes, was awarded the honour for his services to social care and philanthropy in her late Majesty’s birthday honours list. He received the award during a formal ceremony on 20 April 2023.

Goyal started his career in care in 1997, becoming chair of Care England in 2015. He helped found The Care Workers Charity 13 years ago, and helped set up and is chair of Championing Social Care, which seeks to shine a light on the great work of the social care workforce through a series of annual events. He is also chair of the Hallmark Care Homes Foundation which gave a three-year grant of £78,000 in 2021 to support The Care Workers Charity’s mental health support service.

“I joined the sector because I wanted to make a difference and I knew I had something to offer,” said Goyal. “Over that time, I’ve worked hard, with my brothers, to establish a care company we can be proud of by delivering high quality care to residents in beautifully designed award-winning care homes and driving quality and care standards in the sector.”

Goyal said he was delighted his work had been recognised at the highest level. “I know that this honour will act as a further catalyst to take my work in social care and philanthropy to the next level,” he added.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “In his role as chair of Care England, and through the high-quality services provided by Hallmark Care Homes, Avnish Goyal has made an outstanding contribution to the care sector and he has always been a powerful advocate for high-quality care and innovations that improve people’s lives.”

Karolina Gerlich, chief executive of The Care Workers Charity said: “We thoroughly appreciate all the support Avnish and Hallmark Care Homes’ Foundation have provided in raising awareness and grant giving to the Care Workers Charity. It’s important to Avnish that he leads by example and gives back to the sector that he works in and we really respect this about him.”

Stephen Burke, chief executive of Hallmark Care Homes Foundation and Hemraj Goyal Foundation, said: “Avnish firmly believes in giving back and has an outstanding track record of running not just great care homes but also giving millions of pounds and thousands of hours to charities.”