Worcester Warrior

Self-made millionaire Cecil Duckworth was born in Macclesfield in 1937 but has lived in Worcester for over 50 years. In 1962 he started his own engineering company, Worcester Heat Systems, manufacturing domestic central heating boilers. In 1970 he introduced the first combi boiler which resulted in the company's rapid expansion to market leader. Going public in 1986, he then sold the company to Bosch in 1996. Since retiring he has taken Worcester Rugby Club into the Premiership, set up the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust with a view to making the City of Worcester a more attractive, cleaner and safer place to live, and led a number of other local community based projects. He was awarded the OBE in 2005 for services to sport and the environment in Worcestershire and made a Freeman of the City of Worcester in 2008.