John Thompson Snr named in New Years’ Honours List.
John Thompson Snr, chairman of much-respected demolition firm Thompsons of Prudhoe, has been awarded with an MBE in the Queen’s New Years’ Honours List.
Son of company founders and Madge, John Thomson Snr was honoured for his services to the economy and the community in Northumberland having led the ever growing Thompson’s company, forming Thompson Environmental Trust and acting as president of the Prudhoe Community Allotment.
The announcement has been greeted with universal popularity in demolition circles with many of his peers and even his competitors describing John Thompson Snr as “a true gentleman”.
Thompsons of Prudhoe was founded in 1948 by William (Bill) and Margaret (Madge) Thompson as a simple husband and wife partnership. The ethos of hard work was embedded into Bill and Madge’s sons, Billy and John. They joined the business full-time as soon as they left school aged 17 and 15 years respectively and were soon driving wagons, spreaders and excavators.
Although Bill and Madge set up the business and gave it a firm footing, it was Billy and John Thompson who really drove the business through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s to expand from hauliers and suppliers of agricultural products, to a multi-million pound regional heavyweight.
John (now known as John Thompson Snr.) still plays an active role as Chairman of the Group, offering his huge wealth of experience and advice to John Thompson Jnr. and Helen Hillary (the third generation) who run the business with four other Directors who are long-standing, non-family, members of staff: John Burdon, Kevin Robson, Frank Hurst and Nick Shilling.
