Horners’ Award for Plastics Innovation and Design.

The Horners Award is an annual award for an imaginative or innovative contribution to the plastics industry. The Worshipful Company of Horners was founded to set and maintain standards in the ancient craft of the Horner. After it had ‘adopted’ plastics, the company introduced an award to encourage good design in plastics, these materials being the logical successor to the horn.

Could you win the Horners Award?

Any outstanding product, machine or process could be eligible to win the prestigious Horners Award. Entries are judged from the viewpoint of their significance in the United Kingdom through the imagination and appropriate use of plastics. The Rt.Hon. The Lord Mayor of London is Patron of the Award and presents it to the winners at the Horners’ Annual Banquet in The Mansion House.

Plastics Innovation and Design Award 2025

The winner of this year’s Innovation and Design Award is the PROtrough 350 from Cubis Systems. It combines lightweight construction with exceptional durability, setting a new standard for sustainable cable protection across transport, energy, and utility networks. Its market-leading internal capacity allows greater cable volumes within a compact footprint, reducing civil works and installation costs.

Designed for efficiency and safety, the modular walkable system can be manually installed, eliminating heavy machinery while improving on-sitesafety. Delivering up to 80% carbon reduction compared to concrete, the PROtrough 350 supports Net Zero targets and is already transforming major UK infrastructure projects.

Bottlemakers Award

In 1467 The Worshipful Company of Horners’ merged with the Bottlemakers Company (who made bottles from leather) and in October 2002, at the Interplas Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham, they announced a new annual Award for Bottlemaking. Entries for this award must be a plastic bottle, jar or hollow container, made by any process including extrusion blow, injection blow, injection stretch blow, injection moulding, rotational moulding or vacuum forming.

The entry must have significant UK content in Design, Materials or Manufacture and a proven record of commercial success.

The annual Award consists of a leather bottle made in this century by traditional methods, flanked by two silver-rimmed horn beakers, all mounted on an oak plinth. The Award that the winner retains is a smaller leather bottle, also mounted on an oak plinth which is suitably engraved.

Bottlemakers Award 2025

First Editions has claimed the Bottlemakers Award with the Foamo Coffee Cup, a standout packaging innovation that reimagines the everydaycoffee experience through lightweight, next-generation foaming technology.

Engineered to use 50 percent less plastic than conventional alternatives, the Foamo Coffee Cup is fully recyclable and dramatically reduces environmental impact.

Design Innovation in Plastics – Student Design Award (DIP)

Established in 1985, Design Innovation In Plastics is now the longest running student plastics design award in Europe. It is an opportunity for design students to make a name for themselves, but also for universities to raise their profile as institutes of excellence in this field.

Around 300 students from 20 universities register for the competition every year with many of these universities having now incorporated Design Innovation in Plastics into their coursework.

Organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) and the Worshipful Company of Horners,Design Innovation in Plastics is headlined sponsored by Covestro and also supported by market leaders in the fields of design and innovation.

Both IOM3 and the Worshipful Company of Horners play important roles in the field of education, and this award was set up to encourage plastics design innovation and best practice in our future product designers.

2026 Winners of the Student Design in Plastics Award.

In an unprecedented ‘first’ for the Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition, the judging panel has awarded top prize to joint winners for 2026, reflecting the high quality and very distinct products they created.

They are Brunel University’s Isaac Faruque with his ‘Cross Connect’ game, and Aston University’s Maya Pai, for her ‘Honeycomb Havoc’ game, both of which offered outstanding solutions to the original brief.  Isaac’s entry was recognised for exceptional technical logic and sustainability, while Maya’s design stood out for its market-specific aesthetics and clever design.

This year’s competition asked students to come up with a brand-new game, made primarily from plastics, which can be played indoors or outdoors, be suitable for any specified age range, and be either for learning or activity, or just good old-fashioned fun.

Chairman of Judges, Richard Brown, said: “Our deliberations recognise exceptional quality across all six finalists’ entries, and the two top projects that excelled in distinct aspects of the brief. Above all, what stood out in all entries was their playability.”

Isaac’s game comprised a double-sided grid of dials, with each dial containing a straight or right-angle path.  Players rotate the dials with the aim of completing a path between two points on the board.   Richard said: “Isaac’s entry had a clear and logical development process; the concept testing was particularly strong and the packaging very cleverly unfolded to form the base of the game.  Material selection was clearly justified and marketing considerations were also addressed effectively.  We felt this was a ready-to-launch product with strong user engagement potential.”

Maya’s Honeycomb Havoc game comprises a twisting, spinning honeycomb maze, with dials and marbles. Contestants play cards and these dictate which dials of the hexagon pieces are turned. This then alters the course of the marbles as they are sent down different pathways to the coloured exits at the bottom.

Richard Brown said: “The development of Honeycomb Havoc was outstanding, resulting in a compact and well resolved game in which the supporting frame also functions as the packaging.  Good market research was clearly evident, with the design tailored to appeal to a wide range of users.  The design provided clear visual feedback to players, allowing them to see who is winning at any stage of the game.  With only minimal refinements it could be successfully prepared for market launch.”

Isaac and Maya both go away with a trophy and £1000 in cash as their prize, as well as other benefits such as work placements and an invite to the annual banquet of one of the headline sponsors, the Worshipful Company of Horners.  They also receive one year’s membership of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3).

In third place is Nottingham Trent University’s Joanne Chartouni, who developed ‘Steady Stacks’ which challenges users to stack as many rings as possible onto a wobbling base while completing the challenge instructions without knocking the tower over.    Joanne tailored her game to appeal to children diagnosed with ADHD, to encourage social interaction and mental stimulation. The judges said Joanne had given well-presented research and made good manufacturing choices, incorporating her insights into the product to result in a game which is both fun and simple to play.

Also earning praise for the research and development of their games were the three highly commended finalists: Daniel Brown (Brunel University of London), with Mad Dash Escalation, a fun, tactical tabletop game involving a checkers board in which tiles and tokens are moved in different ways towards the centre of the board; Aidan Jones(Nottingham Trent University), with Lollipop Lane, an educational game which teaches children road safety rules; and Yushu (Diane) Li (Coventry University), with Munchie Monster, a learning game using balance scales, to teach pre-school children about balanced, healthy diets.

As well as cash prizes for all finalists, there are also work placements for the top three students, with leading design and industry sponsors, who include Brightworks, Innovate Design, and PDD.

This year’s final results:

• Equal 1^st: Isaac Faruque – Brunel University – Cross Connect, a unique two-player strategy path game featuring a board and grid of dials, made using ABS for the frame and dials, and PP for the clips
• Equal 1^st: Maya Pai – Aston University – Honeycomb Havoc, a twisting, spinning honeycomb maze using dials and marbles. PLA was used to make the 3D printed prototype, but ABS intended for larger scale production of the finished article.
• 3^rd: Joanne Chartouni – Nottingham Trent University – Steady Stacks, an indoor or outdoor game with a wobbling base. The user must stack as many rings as possible while conducting a challenge. Made with a combination of HDPE for the top and bottom base + medium and big ring, and PP for the tokens.

Highly Commended:

• Daniel Brown – Brunel University – Mad Dash Escalation, a tabletop board game – featuring turn-based, three-dimensional stacking, where every part of the board can be manipulated. The whole game would be made through injection moulding ABS.
• Aidan Jones – Nottingham Trent University – Lollipop Lane, an indoor or outdoor board game simulating a town with roads and shops, which children have to navigate safely. Using ABS for the board parts and HDPE for the mini figures.
• Yushu (Diane) Li – Coventry University – Munchie Monster, a game featuring balance scales, designed for children aged 4-6 to educate them about sugar awareness and a balanced diet. Large scale production of the product would use a combination of ABS for the body and tray, and PP for the individual food pieces.

Polymer Apprentice of The Year 2025

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) and the Worshipful Company of Horners are pleased to announce that Darcy Skett-Ricketts of Silteq Ltd has won the 2025 Polymer Industries Apprentice of the Year Award. Darcy received a certificate, a cheque for £500, and a drinking horn.

This year’s runner up, Eva Blinston of Colloids Ltd, also received a certificate  and a cheque for £200.

Darcy’s work focuses on developing new Polymer materials and colour matches in response to customer requests, combining technical precision with creativity and innovation. Eva has excelled in her role as an Apprentice Lab Technician, consistently demonstrating strong analytical skills and a commitment to excellence in her laboratory work.

In addition to the achievements listed above, Jamie Sanderson, Injection Moulding Process Engineer from Camdenboss, received a Highly Commended from the panel of judges.

Following the nomination stage in October, both Eva and Darcy were shortlisted from a highly competitive pool of candidates representing technical, engineering, manufacturing, and design roles across the UK. As shortlisted finalists, they each presented their work, aspirations, and achievements to a panel of respected industry judges.

The  competition aims to recognise the commitment and achievement of apprentices in the polymer industry and the award was open for any apprentices involved in a technical, engineering, manufacturing or design role nominated by their employers or training provider.

Applications for the Polymer Industries Apprentice Awards 2026 will open in Autumn 2026.

About the Polymer Apprentice of the Year 

The Worshipful Company of Horners and British Plastics Federation Polymer Apprentice of the Year Award aims to recognise the commitment and achievement of apprentices in the polymer industry and to encourage and support them in their development. As the award is intended to promote the skills particularly associated with our industry, it is restricted to apprentices employed in a technical, engineering, manufacturing or design role associated with polymer processing, or polymer or additive manufacture. There is a first prize of a ceremonial drinking horn and £500, and a second prize of £250, with Highly Commended candidates receiving a prize of £100 and a Certificate of Commendation. The winner and any other candidate considered to have a similar level of achievement are awarded the Horners’/BPF Polymer Apprentice Certificate (under the Livery Company Skills Council Master Certificates Scheme).

THE JEWELLERY AWARDS

These Awards consist of a jewellery competition and a grant. The Horners aim to use these to promote the use of horn and plastics in jewellery and, in particular, the craft of working with horn. In addition, this award is founded on charitable and citizen-based motivation to raise social awareness and support charitable activities. These annual awards are for the most effective use of horn and/or polymers in a range of durable, wearable jewellery.

The Jewellery Awards have been running for several years and have produced a variety of excellent pieces; many have been sold at the Horners Charity Dinners. They are now integrated into the Goldsmiths jewellery awards.

The judges look for:

• Imaginative design and material use
• Wearability and durability
• Suitability in relation to target audience
• Concept, display and presentation

Above, on the right, are examples of entries.

The 2025 Award – Gold Winner.

The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Award Celebration this year was held at the Merchant Taylors ‘ Hall. Here is our Gold Winner Chuqi Cheng. Her piece is exquisite and she received another 4/5 awards from other categories

She made the winning piece using  cold vacuum merging technology and four different materials used. Two of them horn. Then silver and wood

The 2025 Award First Bronze Winner.

The 2025 Award Second Bronze Winner.

No Silver was awarded this year.

The Scholarship

The Worshipful Company of Horners offer a grant in Jewellery, Fashion and Decorative Items for innovation in horn. This will be awarded to a successful applicant who shows they are able to produce exceptional pieces and demonstrate great potential to expand crafting with horn in the near future.

This Scholarship has recently been introduced and has produced excellent pieces of work. The recent chalice and ring shown are examples of the pieces produced to date.

The David Williams award was created in 2022 and 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 novel design of the base and stand around which the drinking horn is mounted is both modern and striking.

The David Williams Award 2025

Future Makers has won this year’s David Williams Award, for their Rewind® Edition slotted chair and side table project. Developed with MJ’s EventServices and Blu Sky Technical Services, the initiative turns recycled event carpet into stylish, interlocking furniture.

Manufactured entirely in the UK using low emission processes, the Rewind® Edition diverts high volume event waste from landfill while showcasing design led circularity, polymer innovation and scalable sustainability for zero waste event fit outs and commercial reuse.

View Previous Winners