Jerry Burnie has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to business and consumers related to the safety of toys.

Jerry Burnie

The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) is delighted to announce that the BTHA’s Head of Compliance Jerry Burnie has been awarded an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours list.

Jerry owns and manages his own toy safety consultancy, Independent Quality Solutions (IQS), and has been working as the BTHA’s lead toy safety consultant for many years. Heading up the BTHA’s toy safety advisory service for its 150 members, Jerry is also chair of the BTHA’s technical and sustainability committees.

Jerry Burnie’s career in product safety has spanned several decades; during this time he has been influential in guiding the toy industry, government departments, standards committees and enforcement authorities on product safety to protect both businesses and consumers.

He has been instrumental in developing many tools and initiatives to help businesses to understand and practically comply with technical regulations including an extensive list of guidance documents; the creation of Toyograph, a chemical risk assessment tool unique to the toy industry, and setting up the BTHA’s Primary Authority Partnership. Jerry has also trained hundreds of trading standards officers across the UK to help them identify non-compliant and unsafe toys that put children at risk of harm – an issue continually revisited by the team at the BTHA.

Reacting to the announcement of the OBE, Jerry said: “Receiving news of this award has been a totally unexpected and amazing experience. It has only been possible due to the high level of importance placed on toy safety by the BTHA, as well as its support for and confidence in my work for which I will always be extremely grateful.”

Director general of the BTHA, Roland Earl, added: “It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve with Jerry over so many years. Under Jerry’s management, the toy safety team’s work has gone from strength to strength. I speak for all the team at the BTHA who work with Jerry in congratulating him on this very well-deserved honour, and I know I also speak for the Association’s members and our partners in product safety elsewhere.”