They are coupled with recognition of the business achievements of Stuart Lipton of Stanhope Properties and Alexander Scott Bell of Standard Life, the mutual insurance company under siege from carpetbaggers.

Eddie George with Chancellor Gordon Brown

Among the other Knighthoods is one for Tony Atkinson, Professor of Economics at Oxford and a leading left-wing critic of the government.

Professor Atkinson is well-known for his work on income distribution, and has been urging the government to adopt more radical measures of welfare reform and family support.

Also honoured is the controversial former member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Professor Willem Buiter.

One-time government critic

Professor Buiter, who is a strong pro-European, resigned from the MPC to take a position as chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

He receives a Knighthood, as does Eddie George, the governor of the Bank of England.

The success of the Bank of England in operating an independent monetary policy aimed at curbing inflation has been considered one of the greatest economic successes of the current government.

Another one-time government critic, Andrew Dilnot of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which analyses government tax and spending plans, receives a CBE.

Magnates and sandwich kings

Among the other business leaders becoming Knights were Mark Moody-Stuart, the group managing director of oil giant Shell.

And a CBE goes to Robert Chase, the deputy chief executive of rival BP.

Li Ka-Shing, the Hong Kong magnate who owns Hutchinson Whampoa, and has recently bid �4bn for a UK mobile phone licence, receives an KBE for services to industry and medical research.

And the reclusive Barclay brothers, David and Frederick, whose business interests include the Ritz Hotel and the Scotsman and Sunday Business newspapers, also receive Knighthoods.

They live on a remote Channel Island in a �60m home, and have rarely been photographed in public.

In contrast, the founders of the ground-breaking sandwich chain Pret A Manger receive MBEs.

Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham, who founded the chain with a �17,000 loan 14 years ago, now own 100 shops which employ 2,000 people and have a turnover of �90m.

Overall, the birthday honours list broadens out the list of business achievement from the traditional list of big businessmen, embracing more self-made entrepreneurs.