Former training provider boss and renowned entrepreneur Angela Middleton has been stripped of her MBE by King Charles for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”.
Middleton, a media commentator and self-proclaimed “careers queen”, was awarded the honour in 2019 for her services to apprenticeships and business.
She ran a group of training companies until late 2020, initially blaming the “devastating impact of Covid-19” for their collapse.
FE Week later discovered their closure followed the launch of an Education and Skills Funding Agency counter-fraud probe.
The DfE wrote off over £12.5 million in 2024 as funding that wasn’t recovered from Middleton’s businesses: Astute Minds Ltd (£9.9 million), MiddletonMurray Ltd (£1.4 million), FNTC Training and Consultancy (£900,000) and The Teaching and Learning Group Limited (£456,000).
The department has never published the investigation outcome report into Middleton’s companies.
A notice published on The Gazette, the UK’s public record of honours, said: “The King has directed that the appointment of Angela Jane Middleton to be a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 29 December 2018 shall be cancelled and annulled and that her name shall be erased from the register of the said order.”
A separate Cabinet Office notice added that the reason for forfeiture was for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”.
Middleton said she was “disappointed” by decision to revoke her honour, adding that the claims made by the DfE were “unfounded”.
She told FE Week: “In May 2025 I provided the Cabinet Office with a detailed and evidence-based response regarding claims brought to their attention by the ESFA following the closure of my company in 2020. That response set out why those claims were unfounded.
“The figures referenced in your article were submitted by the ESFA to the liquidator in 2022, approximately two years after the company’s closure. They represented an extrapolated claim for the full value of historic contract activity. No sums were owed to the ESFA at the point of closure.
“Those claims were not admitted by the liquidator or determined by any court. The Insolvency Service subsequently reviewed the same concerns and concluded there was no evidence to pursue disqualification proceedings, closing its investigation with no action and an apology for the delay.
“While I am obviously disappointed by the decision regarding the honour, I do not intend to comment further.”
Middleton states on her website that she appears on well-known media outlets and has links to high-profile politicians.
She is also a fitness guru who founded companies called YourBodyMeansBusiness and The Limitless Group.
The DfE was approached for comment.
Call me outspoken but this is scandalous. No report of what they found or proven, didn’t claim the money back as clearly no facts and no this
When are we making
– the Weston sir Peter made to be accountable
– dr Anne limb or dame or baroness bur clearly a liar
– the procession of ncg CEOs who have gongs
– Anne mate at c&g who is ceo, Donnelly
Shall we go on. It is Simply scandalous and fe week need to report responsibly
Why is it always a woman that takes the hit? Men have been doing this greedy game for centuries and get away with it, but they’re in the club!!
On this occasion this woman was running the show
Always had to be the biggest and the best, wouldn’t listen to reason, I feel sorry for the staff who lost out due it being run as a LLP
It is not down to gender as a former prince and master of the dark arts can/will be able to tell you.
Stupid comment.
Each case is taken on merit regardless of sex.
Angela Middleton fully deserved to be stripped of the honour , as did the other 8 , who were also stripped of their honours this year and were a combination of men and women , mostly men actually.
Get your facts straight.
Angela Middleton fully deserved to be stripped of the honour.
Stupid response.
Appears to have removed herself from Linkedin. If only others who invented qualifications………..
Very true. “Rachel from Accounts” should do the same
Mysoginist talking points being parroted. Either an AI or a dimwit.
Never seems to amaze me how many Company go into liquidation and owing huge sums to others and yet it is never the fault of the people running these organisations ,we must find a way of eliminating these invisible gremlins.
These awards are farcical nowaday. Time to abolish them
what about the other 2 identified via some of FE week’s journalism.
Does that mean that me, and all the other employees she completely screwed over when the ship was sinking at MiddletonMurray are entitled to the money she refused to pay out and put the majority of us into precarious financial positions?
In our dreams… She was blameless and at least she got an apology from the Insolvency Service, which clearly is more than she feels we deserved!
Our chum formerly of Weston seems to be living a charmed life…
I’m afraid that there is a lot worse than her out there.