Man who helped reopen Blackwood’s Maxime Cinema among those honoured in Queen’s Birthday Honours

Three people from Caerphilly County Borough have been recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for their work .

Steven Reynolds was made an MBE for services to the UK cinema industry for his work in supporting independent screens across the country and played a key role in the reopening of Blackwood’s Maxime Cinema.

Others to get gongs include the boss of Bedwas-based aviation company AerFin, Bob James, who got an OBE and Caerphilly’s Kim Ann Williamson, an inclusion and community engagement manager with the Crown Prosecution Service, who was also awarded an MBE.

Steven Reynolds’ company, Four Seasons Entertainment, programmes 160 screens across the UK and Mr Reynolds is credited with helping save cinemas in more than 50 towns.

Mr Reynolds 66, of Croespenmaen, said he almost put the letter announcing his MBE through the shredder as he thought it was a hoax.

He said: “It was out of the blue I can assure you. My wife Beverley read it and she was in tears. It was very, very, nice.”

Amid recent technological changes, Mr Reynolds has been committed to helping small cinemas avoid closure by converting them to digital, securing finance and industry support for them to make the expensive change happen.

Starting his career in the film industry in the projection room of the Palace Cinema in Abertillery aged 15, Mr Reynolds then moved on to EMI where he eventually became a cinema manager at its flagship cinema in Birmingham.

Moving back to Wales in 1975 he set out on his own as a cinema owner and eventually moved into screen programming – selecting films for screening dealing with cinema owners and film distributors.

His close links with the independent cinema sector meant he could act fast when the lease of the Maxime in Blackwood came on the market. He successfully managed to negotiate and secure the building for Picturedrome Cinemas.

The cinema opened to the public in August 2014 and has seen huge success with footfall in the town increasing by around 350,000 a year.

AerFin founder and chief executive Bob James was given an OBE for services to exports in the aerospace industry.

Mr James is an established entrepreneur who has continuously succeeded to influence the commercial aviation market, creating hundreds of jobs and attracting millions in overseas investment.

His first major enterprise was the founding in 1995 of Total Engine Support (TES) a global aero-engine consultancy and trading company. After selling the business, he then went on to establish AerFin in 2010, which has gone on to achieve numerous accolades, including being named in 2017 as the fastest growing UK private business by The Sunday Times Virgin FastTrack100, and more recently the fastest growing Aerospace and Defense business in Europe by the Financial Times’ FT1000.

Mr James said: “I am truly honoured to have received this recognition.

“I really would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues at AerFin for their hard work and efforts. From the outset, we knew that the aerospace industry is truly global, so we have focused on delivering products and services that appeal around the world. At the same time, I am grateful to our clients for their ongoing trust and support.”

Kim Ann Williamson, from Caerphilly, works as a CPS inclusion and community engagement officer.

She has promoted the role of the CPS in tackling human trafficking and modern slavery in Wales.

Of the award she said: “Accepting this award is an incredible honour. I am fortunate to work with like-minded people who are passionate about making a difference.”