Nick Thomas, Chairman of Qdos Entertainment Group, Awarded MBE

Nick Thomas awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The award is made for Services to the Entertainment Industry and to Charity.

Nick Thomas, Chairman and founder of Qdos Entertainment Group - a leading UK theatre operator and a prolific theatre producer - has been awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Thomas has enjoyed an extensive career in live entertainment over five decades. His MBE is in recognition of services to the Entertainment Industry and for his long-time fundraising work and support for numerous charities including Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Heroes Welcome and The Royal Variety Charity. The entrepreneur, whose Qdos Entertainment Group incorporates theatres & concert venues, theatre productions and artiste management, was thrilled to receive the news. He said:

I have been lucky enough to spend my entire working life entertaining people, in one way or another, so I am honoured and humbled to receive the MBE for doing something that I love. I am enormously proud of my teams around the country who have helped to raise in excess of £1.5m for Great Ormond Street over the past 6 years. These funds have helped towards the purchase of vital equipment and the development of new operating theatres, and we are fully focused on raising even more over the coming months and years ahead.

Nick Thomas’ professional career began in 1975 when, at the age of 15 he was a finalist on the ATV Network talent show New Faces with his puppet act ‘Tommer Puppets’. The act then appeared in shows alongside artistes such as Dick Emery, Mike & Bernie Winters, Cilla Black and Larry Grayson. In 1982, he began producing pantomimes and summer season shows at theatres across Britain, eventually acquiring a number of rival pantomime companies, before creating Qdos Entertainment Group in 1999. Qdos Entertainment Group is now one of the largest broad-based entertainment companies in Europe. The Group includes the UK’s second largest regional theatre chain, HQ Theatres & Hospitality Ltd, the artiste management company QTalent and the world’s most prolific pantomime production company, Qdos Pantomimes Ltd. In 2016, Thomas, with long-time collaborator Michael Harrison, returned pantomime to the London Palladium after 30 years absence. The Palladium pantomimes have received five Olivier Award Nominations, with the production of Dick Whittington in 2017 winning the award in the Best Entertainment category. Stars appearing in the Palladium pantomimes have included Dawn French, Elaine Paige, Paul O’Grady, Julian Clary, Gary Wilmot, Paul Zerdin, Diversity and Nigel Havers. Alongside his work for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Nick has also been associated with The Royal Variety Charity since 1990 and is currently a Vice Chair of the organisation, which arranges the annual televised Royal Variety Performance. The charity is dedicated to supporting those who have professionally served the entertainment industry, providing residential and nursing care at its own care home Brinsworth House, as well as a nationwide grant scheme for those living in their own homes who may need support.