QEST & Heritage Crafts Environmental Sustainability 2025 Award Winners Announced 

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the QEST and Heritage Crafts Environmental Sustainability Award 2025.

Nancy Diniz, co-founder of bioMATTERS received the award for Innovative Approaches to Environmental Sustainability, and Jack Millington, co-founder of Billy Tannery, was recognised for Incremental Changes to Environmental Sustainability. Both were celebrated for their pioneering contributions within their craft.

The winners were announced at a prestigious awards ceremony held at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire. Nancy and Jack each received a £1,000 prize, a certificate and a trophy kindly crafted and provided by Thomas Fattorini Ltd. “Coming from the craft sector as gold and silversmiths, recycling materials (repurposing jewellery is one example) has become increasingly important to the company” shares Thomas, Director of Thomas Fattorini, “not just to reduce the waste and pollution but to drive change in our own employees’ attitudes and inspire them in the process.”

Winners were selected by a judging panel comprising 2024 winner and glass artist Allister Malcolm, 2024 winner and jeweller–metalworker Rachael Colley, materials translator and author Seetal Solanki, QEST CEO Deborah Pocock LVO, and Heritage Crafts trustee and photographer Jo Sealey. Together, they identified makers who demonstrated innovation, commitment and leadership in sustainable craft practice.

Jack Millington, co-founder of Billy Tannery: Incremental Changes to Environmental Sustainability Award Winner

Jack Millington is the co-founder of Billy Tannery, a pioneering British microtannery leading new environmental standards in UK leather. Since launching in 2016, he has transformed waste hides from the food and conservation sectors into fully traceable, vegetable-tanned leather made at his micro-tannery on a farm in the midlands. Jack has revived heritage tanning skills while introducing major ecological innovations, including a closed-loop system using natural bark extracts, on-site water treatment and emerging reed-bed purification trials. His work proves that leather can be produced regeneratively in the UK, reducing waste, cutting transport emissions and creating a model for low-impact, craft-led tanneries of the future.

“Ever since Billy Tannery launched in 2016 we have been continuously working on improvements to reduce the impact of our business and hopefully have a positive one in many ways. It’s incredibly affirming to have our work recognised with this award and we’ve already put the prize towards a new piece of tannery water treatment equipment.”

Nancy Diniz, co-founder of bioMATTERS: Innovative Approaches to Environmental Sustainability Award Winner

Nancy Diniz is the Course Leader of MA Biodesign at Central Saint Martins UAL and co-founder of bioMATTERS, an award-winning biodesign studio advancing low-carbon materials through innovations in 3D-printed living systems. An architect, educator and leading voice in biodesign, she integrates craft, science and technology to develop regenerative alternatives to carbon-intensive materials. Her recent work includes pioneering a patent-pending mycelium composite grown from agricultural waste with dramatically lower embodied carbon and energy use than conventional construction materials. Through research, teaching and international collaborations, Nancy is shaping new material futures – promoting circular, biologically integrated design and demonstrating how living systems can support a more sustainable, locally rooted built environment.

“I truly appreciate QEST and Heritage Crafts’ longstanding commitment to supporting both traditional and emerging crafts, and their recognition of biodesign as a discipline shaping novel materials at the intersection of biology, technology, and design. This award is a meaningful acknowledgement of my work as both a practitioner — as founder of bioMATTERS — and as an educator, in my role as Course Leader of MA Biodesign at Central Saint Martins, UAL. Both endeavours are dedicated to developing low-impact, regenerative approaches grounded in ecological thinking and experimentation with living materials.”

Additional Acknowledgments

We were also delighted to see QEST Alumni and makers recognised in other Heritage Crafts categories including:

• Ash Appadu, Homo Faber Fellow, who won Trainee of the Year
• Calligraphy artist and QEST Ambassador Razwan Ul-Haq and Florence Hamer, finalists for England Maker of the Year
• Sam Cooper and Richard Platt, trainers to QEST Apprentice Isaac Uden, finalists for Scotland Maker of the Year
• Razwan Ul-Haq, finalist for Community Catalyst of the Year
• Ana del Rio, QEST Youth Board member and leatherworker, finalist for Emerging Leatherworker of the Year

The QEST and Heritage Crafts Sustainability Award was created to celebrate makers who have made significant strides in reducing the environmental impact of their craft practice. Through our partnership we promote the importance of sustainability and innovation within the UK’s rich craft sector to ensure it thrives for future generations.

Following the success of the inaugural year in 2023, the two categories were formed, each honouring different aspects of sustainable practices. Previous winners include Allister Malcolm for ‘Incremental Changes to Environmental Sustainability’ and Rachael Colley for ‘Innovative Approaches to Environmental Sustainability’ and Lulu Harrison for the inaugural award. 

Photography by Robert Wade.