Key Highlights:
- The Worshipful Company of Horners embraced Polymer Science in 1943, recognising the decline of horn-related industries.
- Actively supporting educational projects with a focus on plastics, particularly science-related endeavours aligned with the national curriculum.
- The Horners, in conjunction with the plastics industry, manages awards including the BPF Horners' Award for Plastics Innovation and Design and the Horners Bottlemakers Award for Plastic Packaging.
The Worshipful Company of Horners is an esteemed Livery Companies in the City of London; the first record of the Company being in 1284. The Leather Bottle Makers amalgamated with the Horners Company in 1476 and in 1638 King Charles 1st granted the Company a Royal Charter. Today it is both an ancient guild, livery company, and a modern City Institution merging tradition and modernity to form the ideologies of the Company.
The Worshipful Company of Horners acknowledged that to protect the heritage of an age-old craft it needed to embrace the evolving area of Polymer Science to become a modern City organisation,
This was in 1943, by recognising that the working of horn was no longer a viable industry, the Company had the sagacity to adopt its modern equivalent, the Polymer Industry.
Currently, in common with other City Livery Companies, The Horners are active supporters and sponsors of educational and design related projects. The Company has close links with the Plastics Industry and its educational activities are focused on science related projects of relevance to this industry
A twenty first century guild supporting education
Actively supporting a number of educational projects with a plastic connection, many of these being science related and forming part of the national curriculum thereby making a lasting difference to a substantial number of students. STEM is at the core focus of the educational work the Horners support both technically and financially.
One examples of this is the Polymer Study Tours which are fully funded, two-day, residential courses for 11-18 curriculum design technology teachers. The courses are designed to improve subject knowledge relating to polymers, provide ideas for practical teaching and give an insight into the plastics industry. Organising and running the Polymer Study Tours is a team effort! The Tours are organised by a Steering Group comprising of representatives from:
- The Horners who are the primary sponsor.
- The British Plastics Federation who liaises with the industry sponsors and the financial administration.
- The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining who look after course administration, publicity, and teacher registrations.
The Worshipful Company of Horners
The tours are held in four regions supported by local companies in the plastic industry who offer tours of their facilities so that teachers gain an insight into the complexities of the manufacturing process.
A further example is the support the Company provide to develop curriculum material alongside the Salters in the area of Chemistry and Physics.
Many of these projects frequently involve partnership with other contributors such as the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (IoM3), The British Plastics Federation, The Salters Institute and The Royal Society of Chemistry enabling the Company to make a significant contribution to improving science education in the UK.
Annually the Horners host a lecture on a polymer related subject at The Royal Society of Medicine. This was made possible by Ralph Anderson, an active Horner and great supporter of the plastics industry, who upon his death left a legacy to the Horners Company for charitable science and educational projects. The Ralph Anderson annual lecture is held every year in his memory to an audience of Horners and invited guests from other Livery Companies and the Plastics Industry.
Recognising and encouraging excellence in the plastics industry
The relationship with the plastics industry has taken the Company into many activities which promote the image of plastics and its established and developing technologies. Alongside the educational work the Company are guardians of several awards for the polymer industry. These awards honour outstanding achievement from companies, students, and apprentices. The awards are:
BPF Horners’ Award for Plastics Innovation and Design
This is the longest established Design Award for Polymers in the world and is awarded for innovation in plastics design and manufacture or in the processing of polymers.
In 2023 the winner was Suscons’ Emergency Relief Shelter which is manufactured from 75% recycled PVC window and door frames and can be 100% recycled after its 10-year lifespan without significant loss in physical properties thereby creating a closed loop humanitarian solution.
Horners Bottlemakers Award for Plastic Packaging
Entries for this award must be a plastic package, hollow container, bottle, or made by any process including extrusion blow, injection blow, injection stretch blow, injection moulding, rotational moulding, or vacuum forming. There also must be a significant UK content in Design, Materials or Manufacture with a proven record of commercial success.
The Worshipful Company of Horners
The Bottlemakers Award in 2023 was awarded to Berry Superfos for their Closed Loop Paint Containers, in which waste paint is collected and re-engineered into new paint, while the plastic containers in which the paint was originally packed are recycled into new paint cans for the recovered paint. This innovative solution reduces the environmental impact of both the paint and its packaging by the reduction of waste product sent to landfill.
David Williams Award for Sustainability
The youngest award in the portfolio is the David Williams award which was created in 2022. This was awarded for the first time in that year.
It was created in memory of Past Master (2011) David Williams, a committed Horner whose contribution to the Company was immense. It is awarded ‘for social contribution through plastics.’
THE 2022 inaugural winner was Zara King, whose design of the EasyMode, a re-usable bedpan for Hospitals, she also won the Student Design in Plastics Award that year.
In 2023 the Award was given to Stephen Ford of Suscons for their Emergency Shelter; also the winner of the Award for Plastics Design & Innovation.
Design Innovation in Plastics – Student Design Award
Established in 1985, Design Innovation in Plastics is now the longest running student plastics design award in Europe. Students submit their entries digitally and finalists are invited to present their concepts to a panel of judges with presentation slides and models. All finalists win a cash prize, a short placement with a UK design company, and connections to esteemed members of the community. We encourage tutors and lecturers to incorporate our brief into their university’s coursework to facilitate student submissions.
Design Innovation in Plastics is sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Horners, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3), and market leaders in the fields of design and innovation including Covestro.
Polymer Apprentice of the Year Award
The Polymer Apprentice of the Year Award, run jointly by the Worshipful Company of Horners and the British Plastics Federation Education & Skills Committee, is open for entry from October-November every year.
The winner attends the Livery Companies Skills Council Apprentice Ceremony in February/March. They receive a ceremonial drinking horn and a prize of £500 (from the Master Horner) and will receive the Apprentice Horner Certificate from the Lord Mayor of London.
It is an award that is for apprentices employed in a technical, engineering, manufacturing or design role associated with polymer processing or polymer/additive manufacture. It shines the spotlight on the outstanding achievements that apprentices in the industry are making.
The Jewellery Award
Maintaining the relationship with horn/bone craft the Horners use this award to promote the use of horn and plastics in design of wearable jewellery focussing on the craft of working with horn.
The Jewellery Awards produce a variety of excellent pieces which are often sold at a Horners Charity Dinners to supporting the Company’s charitable activities. The Jewellery Award is now integrated into the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council awards which assist in upholding, maintaining, and enhancing craft, design and technological skills in the profession.
The present day
Whilst the origins of the Company are perhaps perceived as ancient and not relevant to the industry today, the underlying purpose and the driving forces that has sustained the Horners for so many centuries have not changed. The character of the Company today allows it greater flexibility in supporting education projects and polymer awards, recognising diversity and innovation.
Today the Horners are a charitable organisation supporting industry and education by leveraging their rich history and tradition. Their work is as relevant to supporting the industry and education today as it has always been.
In addition to individual membership, the Horners Company is open to a small number of companies involved in the plastic industry in the UK or overseas to becoming Corporate Members.