JRI Orthopaedics CEO wins director of the year award

26th October 2016

The chief executive of Sheffield healthcare company JRI Orthopaedics has been named as the UK's top Mid-Market company director.

Prof Keith Jackson, received the honour at the Institute of Director's prestigious UK Director of the Year Finals event, held at the Lancaster London Hotel. Multi-award winning JRI Orthopaedics has world-class expertise in the design, development and manufacture of orthopaedic implants and surgical instruments. The company, Britain's largest orthopaedic manufacturer, is uniquely wholly owned by the charity Orthopaedic Research UK (ORUK). It has donated £12m over the last 10 years to fund world class research into bone and joint disease at centres of excellence across the country. Prof Jackson said: -I am absolutely delighted to receive this award from the Institute of Directors. -My inspiration comes from the thousands upon thousands of patients who benefit from the transforming implants that JRI Orthopaedics precision manufacture here in the UK. -It is truly an honour to run such a fantastic British company. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Prof Jackson spent the first five years of his career as a design engineer for car manufacturer Jaguar. After a year of voluntary work in Africa, he returned to the UK to achieve an MSc in Biomedical Engineering. A Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Fellow of both the IMechE and the Institute of Directors, Prof Jackson worked in sales, product development and management at JRI Orthopaedics before being appointed Chief Executive in 2010. In 2015, he was appointed as the IoD's branch chairman for South Yorkshire and this month also took up the position of Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield's Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The IoD awards recognise individuals who have displayed the highest standards of leadership in business, public and third sectors. Winners progressed through regional heats to the national finals. Louise Gulliver, acting director general of the IoD, said: -Congratulations to all of the winners for their contributions to business and their communities. Success is built on great leadership and it is important to reward those people have made outstanding contributions to their sector.