In 2000, in memory of her mother in law, Barbour set up The Nancy Barbour Award, an award within the Women"s Fund that recognises organisations helping women to play a more active part in the community, particularly those who work with a disability.
She turned the company"s rustic clothes - initially designed for seamen, river workers, motorcyclists and Royal Navy submariners - into "a fashion accessory for the 1980s urban Sloane Rangers and the British upper-class country set."
She then turned the rural brand into an international urban fashion icon in the 40 countries where it is represented through the company"s local offices and network of retailers and distributors. "This is not just for me, but for the company. Everybody in my hardworking force in the North East of England." (Margaret Barbour on her Damehood)
In addition to the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Margaret Barbour was a Deputy Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, an honorary doctor of business administration as awarded by the University of Sunderland, as well as an honorary doctor of civil law as awarded by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
She is also a past president of the Royal Warrant Holders Association and the first woman to hold this position, the chairman of J. Barbour & Sons and the chairman of the Barbour Charitable Trust, founded in 1988.
Quotations: "This is not just for me, but for the company. Everybody in my hardworking force in the North East of England." (Margaret Barbour on her Damehood).
