Sir John Sorrell CBE

John Sorrell was born in London in 1945. He went to Saturday morning classes at Hornsey College of Art when he was 14 and later studied art and design there full-time. He set up his first business when he was 19 and during his career of over more than 40 years he has created one of Europe’s biggest and most successful design businesses, chaired both of the UK’s public design bodies, originated the London Design Festival and set up a Foundation which inspires creativity in young people.

He holds a number of other appointments including: Chair, Infrastructure Group DCMS Creative Economy Programme; Member of the Home Office Design and Technology Alliance; Member DCMS Chairs Group and Member of the High Level Stakeholders Group, Foresight Project on Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment.

John was appointed CBE in 1996 and was awarded the Royal Society of Arts Bicentenary Medal in 1998. He holds four Honorary Design Doctorates, an Honorary Design Fellowship and is an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2002. John was awarded a Knighthood in the 2008 New Year Honours List `for services to the Creative Industries’.