Tim Smit has been crowned a ‘Great Briton’ at an awards event celebrating the cream of British talent.

The Eden Project’s CEO and co-founder, picked up the accolade in the environment category at the Morgan Stanley Great Britain awards last night. 

Smit was shorlisted against Sir Jonathon Porritt, co-founder of the UK’s leading sustainable development charity Forum for the Future, and Jeremy Leggett, founder and executive chairman of solar technology company Solarcentury.

After receiving his award, Smit said: ‘It’s a cliché to say it’s a real honour, but it felt really special and it was a privilege to be in such extraordinary company.

‘In truth, the award was for the Eden team, who’d made our little piece of magic come true, and everyone was aware of that,’ he added.

Smit landed the inaugural environment award after the judges decided that he had made a major contribution to environmental matters in 2007.

The Eden Project is already one of the UK’s most recognisable social enterprises and has ambitious plans for the future. In April last year, Eden announced plans for Britain’s first tourist attraction dedicated to climate change and how humans will live with increasing temperatures.

The new £63 million building called The Edge will generate its own light from turbines and heat from stored warm air.

JK Rowling, author of Harry Potter, won the Arts category as well as the overall prize of Morgan Stanley Great Briton of 2007. And, former Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher was given a Lifetime Achievement award.

The fourth annual Morgan Stanley Great Britons Awards, hosted by Clive Anderson, celebrate what it means to be British by recognising those who have contributed exceptional achievements to their field in a distinctly British way.

Each year the public nominates people who have made them proud to be British, seven winners are then chosen by a panel of judges.