Longworth MD and Sustainability Champion Receives MBE
An innovator with a long history of creating and safeguarding jobs in export manufacturing is recognised with MBE in New Year’s Honours for Services to Innovation, Sustainability and International Trade. Managing Director of British employer B&M Longworth Ltd, John Norris, has received an MBE for Services to Innovation, Sustainability and International Trade in the King’s New Year’s Honours.
The MBE recognises John’s significant contributions over his engineering career spanning almost 60 years, including decades of providing employment and contributing significantly to the region’s exports of British technology, along with an unwavering passion for sustainability and reducing waste materials.
John Norris is a true inspiration and creative spirit, an innovator by nature and a deeply committed environmentalist. His dedication to invention and innovation over the past 30 years has transformed how industry reclaims and recycles valuable materials from waste streams.
Always one to avoid the limelight, when commenting on the MBE, Norris said:
“I wish I could share it with my team; they deserve this as much as I do. I’m lucky to be surrounded by an equally passionate, hardworking team who share the belief that we all can and must do better to achieve true sustainability and must stop waiting for someone else to take action first.”
Starting his career as a technical apprentice working on turbines and generators at the former ‘English Electric Company’, he founded and managed several specialist engineering and manufacturing companies in East Lancashire, employing over 250 people. For six years, he has focused on developing transformative environmental and sustainability-based technologies at B&M Longworth. His self-funded development in international patents for the company’s DEECOM® proteolysis systems is being used to successfully turn materials from carbon-fibre composites to ‘fast-fashion’ garments, sanitary products and PPE back into recoverable constituents. DEECOM® is a multi-award winning, game-changing technology. Due to John’s continual striving for innovation, he has developed other processes and technologies that extend the service life of countless components to the degree that their use is now virtually unlimited, and end-of-life disposal has been eliminated in many cases. The development of John’s products and technologies supports the Government’s Net Zero and Science and Technology ambitions and has created high-value, sustainable ‘green’ jobs.
John believes in helping people and continues to re-invest the profits from his business into training, student sponsorships (including a partnership with Manchester University), R&D and innovation. He has worked extensively with the Department for Business and Trade since 2011, promoting UK world-class innovation and excellence overseas. His company has undertaken extensive research and development visits to international markets across the globe, utilising the support of the British Embassy networks, trade missions and industry trade shows. B&M Longworth has achieved over £3 million in export sales to SE Asia, United States, Japan, France and Spain and has technology in 19 countries worldwide.
John’s goal continues to be waste reduction, and his technical ingenuity, persistence and financial commitment over a sustained period deserve recognition.
His team at B&M Longworth Ltd commented,
“We are unbelievably proud that John’s passion, ambition and contribution have been recognised in the King’s New Year’s Honours with an MBE. John’s work ethic, boundless energy and belief that ‘anything is possible, we just need to find a way’ leaves a technical legacy to inspire and drive future generations of engineers, innovators and those chasing a sustainable future for all industries.
We call this the 5th industrial revolution, and thanks to John’s passion, enthusiasm and creativity as a role model, it’s a step closer to becoming a reality. On behalf of everyone at Longworth, we congratulate John on receiving his MBE.”
Read more about B&M Longworth here.
