Beth Brooke, Emma Codd and Melanie Richards CBE were awarded the honorary memberships for their work championing diversity and inclusion of women and LGBT+ communities.

They have joined eight existing honorary ICAEW members, including the HRH The Prince of Wales, Sir Adrian Cadbury, Sir Bryan Nicholson and Mervyn King.

Brooke, a retired certified public accountant in the US, said: ‘I am very proud to have been awarded the honorary membership and receiving the accolade in the year of ICAEW’s centenary celebrations made it particularly meaningful.

‘We’re making progress and the events of the past year have got the firms focused on diversity in its broadest sense and we’re transforming the profession in a good way. I’m just trying to make a difference – that’s what I’m driven by.’

Codd, a par