Dr William Wright CBE, who last year celebrated his 90th birthday, is a well-known and respected figure in the UK bus sector and in the Northern Ireland business arena. His latest honour follows an OBE in 2001 for services to industry and the community and promotion to CBE in 2011 for services to the bus industry.
As he continues to take an active role in the family business, Wright continues to aim to reduce fossil fuel usage and harmful emissions in buses, which in turn will lead to improved air quality in cities in the UK and around the world. The energetic nonagenarian to this day heads up the alternative driveline division at Wrightbus.
Wright founded the original company with his father in 1946, and transformed what was a small family business into one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers. Wrightbus now manufactures a range of technologically innovative vehicles that are in service across the globe.
In 2016 the William Wright Technology Centre - a joint venture between Wrights Group and Queens University – was named in his honour. The centre continues to promote research and advanced engineering to facilitate the creation and incubation of technologies for the future development of the bus industry.