Timpson and Walker knighted in Queen’s Birthday Honours List
John Timpson, the chairman of the historic Manchester cobbler and key cutting company Timpson Shoe Repairs has been knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The 74-year-old head of the family business which dates back to 1865 was recognised for his services to business and to fostering.
Timpson and his late wife Alex, who passed away in January, 2016, fostered 90 children over a 31-year period.
Malcolm Walker, founder chief executive and chairman of the Deeside company Iceland Foods, has also been knighted.
He is honoured for services to retailing, entrepreneurship and charity. He founded Iceland in 1970 with a single small shop in Oswestry selling loose frozen food and the company now records annual income of £160m.
Sir John Edward Sulston, formerly chair of the Institute of Science Ethics and Innovation at Manchester University, meanwhile, has received the Companion of Honour.
He has pushed scientific boundaries throughout his career, combining this with an Absolute commitment to science as a public good.
His research has spanned cell lineages in nematode worms at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, for which he won the Nobel Prize, to leading the UK’s participation
In the Human Genome Project, founding the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the process.
The Institute now runs the largest genomics programme in Europe, with a global impact on some of the world’s greatest health.
Singer/songwriter and former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, who grew up and rose to fame in Liverpool, was also awarded the Companion of Honour.
