The honour was awarded by Tarja Halonen, president of the Republic of Finland, in her position of Grand Master of the Orders. Robin (who has worked for the leading security solutions provider for nearly 40 years) and his wife Jeanette enjoyed a lunch at the Ambassador of Finland’s residence in London where he was presented with the title by the Ambassador himself, Mr Jaahko Laajava.
The Order of the Lion of Finland rewards civilian and military merit. Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland is one of seven accolades awarded by the Order of the Lion of Finland.
The path to success
Beginning his Abloy career in the late 1960s, Robin worked his way up from cutting keys, packing parcels and making tea to running the hugely successful company Abloy is today – employing 64 people with annual sales of GB pound 15 million.
Rice is delighted with the honour: “It was a really great surprise when I received the letter informing me of this recognition, and I am so pleased and honoured to have been bestowed with this title by the President of Finland,” he told info4security.
Abloy is the company within the ASSA Abloy Group (based in Finland) which sells to the professional end user market in the UK, and is responsible for the whole of the electromechanical business in the Group.
