THE boss of one of Blackburn's leading firms has been given a Royal appointment.

Khalid Saifullah, the managing director of Star Tissue, has been made a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire with immediate effect,

He will support Lord Shuttleworth, the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, who is the Queen's official representative in the county.

Mr Saifullah said: “I am both greatly honoured and humbled to have been selected to serve my home county of Lancashire as a Deputy Lieutenant.

"I will continue to work hard to represent all that is great about Lancashire.

"I look forward to supporting Lord Shuttleworth and his team in their forthcoming duties.”

Established in 2003, Star Tissue manufactures away from home hygiene paper products, providing private label products to major suppliers and distributors in the professional hygiene, catering and medical markets in UK and Ireland.

In 2011,Mr Saifullah was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise Promotion and featured in the Guardian’s annual poll of the 50 ‘most influential people in the North of England.

He is married with three children and lives in Blackburn.

Mr Saifullah is presently a Director of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, and Trustee of Minority Enterprise Development Trust.

He is also a former chairman of the HIVE Network of Blackburn with Drawen business leaders.

James Carter from Chorley, the deputy chair of the Eric Wright Group Limited and chairman of Maple Grove Developments Limited, has also been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant.