The entrepreneur who set up the Social Bite sandwich chain which helps the homeless has received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

Josh Littlejohn was recognised for services to social enterprise and entrepreneurship in Scotland and dedicated the award to people “marginalised” from society.

Littlejohn co-founded the sandwich shop chain in 2012 and has built it into an empire which boasts of shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Last year he also opened a restaurant in Edinburgh which provides free meals to homeless people and recently announced plans to create a village for local homeless people to live in, in the capital.

Accepting the award Josh Littlejohn said: “I’m relatively young but I hope to dedicate the rest of my working life to helping people who have been excluded from the system.

“By working alongside the amazing Social Bite team — and other charities — I hope I can play my part in eradicating homelessness from Scotland and spread the social enterprise business model further afield.”