Civil servant receives his British Empire Medal
Civil servant Jo Reeve has been presented with his British Empire Medal at a ceremony at Government House.
He was awarded the honour in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours List for services to government in Guernsey, and the investiture took place in front of the Bailiff, the Dean of Guernsey, a a number of deputies and colleagues.
Presenting the award, Lt-Governor Lt General Richard Cripwell said that one of the favourite parts of his job was to be able to recognise public service on behalf of the King.
‘Jo has been a magnificent civil servant, in the hardest of roles over a continuous period of time,’ he said.
‘I’m absolutely delighted to be able to present him with this award today.’
Mr Reeve joined the civil service in 1998, after completing a degree in genetics at the University of Nottingham. His first job was as a junior executive at the Committee for Horticulture.
A decade later he moved across to the Policy Council and went on to lead the States’ response to Brexit. He said that navigating this was the piece of work of which he was most proud.
Policy & Resources president Lyndon Trott, who also attended the ceremony, said he had first worked alongside Mr Reeve when he was chief minister between 2008 and 2012.
‘Jo is simply one of the most competent and consistent civil servants I’ve worked with during my career,’ he said. ‘This is an award he richly deserves, and I think reflects very positively on the team that he leads.’
Mr Reeve said he was honoured to accept the award and gave special thanks to his wife Catherine, who had given birth to their son Alex at the height of the Brexit negotiations, which had often seen him working late.
He added he had not yet thought about where the medal would live.
‘I don’t want to just put in a drawer, there is no point on having one if it doesn't go on display,’ he said. ‘Until today I realised I did not know what a BEM looked like.’
Mr Reeve was back to work yesterday as normal.
‘I was actually supposed to be on the ferry to Jersey on Sunday for meetings there, but the weather has put a stop to that. At least it will give me a chance to take the medal to the office to show everyone.’
