Founder of Polly Pocket toy brand who ‘bought unbelievable joy to millions’ dies aged 91
THE founder of Polly Pocket has died aged 91.
Sir Torquil Norman, whose toy company was responsible for the iconic toy brand, has been described as "an extraordinary man".
Conservative MP Jesse Norman said his father helped bring "unbelievable joy to millions of young people" around the world, as he led tributes in the House of Commons.
Mr Norman added he hopes his father's values of positivity, creativity and respect for others could inspire Parliament and the country at this time of "difficulty and stagnation".
Sir Torquil served in the military and worked as an investment banker before entering the toymaking industry, a period which saw him establish Bluebird Toys.
Speaking at business questions, shadow Commons leader Mr Norman told MPs: "Almost exactly 24 hours ago, my father Torquil Norman died at the age of 91. He was an extraordinary man who flew Seafires and Sea Furies during his national service in the Fleet Air Arm.
"He created Polly Pocket, a toy which brought unbelievable joy to millions of young people around the House and around the world.
"And he rebuilt the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm in London, not just as an incredible performing arts centre but as a creative centre for young people and for them to find their way from whatever backgrounds into jobs."
Mr Norman highlighted his father's values and noted he always said the secret to success in the toy business was to have "a mental age of seven and an eye for detail".
The MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire added: "Incredible energy but also amazing resilience and focus on the long-term; turn up at the finishing line was one of his maxims.
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"And even in his 80s he was building and creating a new enterprise to develop flatpack trucks, if you can imagine such a thing, that could be developed and sold around the world at low cost and in countries supporting businesses and people.
"I think the whole House would perhaps agree with me that we need these values today, a time of difficulty and stagnation and international conflict, we need these values of creativity, of ambition, of drive, of respect for others and, above all, a capability - not just a focus on the head but on the hand and the heart as well.
"It's something I feel very strongly about, we're trying to build this new university in Hereford, a specialist technical engineering college, precisely to bring those kinds of different aspects of the human personality together in the service of better jobs and better possibilities.
"I also think it raises a question of us as a House and as Parliament, which is to encourage us all to ask the right questions and to support long-term solutions, even when those questions and those solutions may not be ones that we're ideologically or politically drawn to."
Mr Norman pushed for more co-operation between different political parties on the long-term issues, adding: "One of my father's maxims, you'll discover he has many, was that the secret to success is taking a large bite and then chew it.
"I think we could do that more perhaps as a House and perhaps as a country."
Deputy Speaker Nusrat Ghani sent her condolences and "love and prayers" to Mr Norman and his family.
Commons Leader Lucy Powell thanked Mr Norman for his tribute to his father, saying of Sir Torquil: "I didn't know him but in the short time (Mr Norman) has spoken about him today, he sounds like a wonderful father to have.
"Someone who invented children's toys but also sounds like somebody of great wisdom who gave him great advice and I'm sure we can all in this House live by those values of positivity, creativity and resilience that he so fondly shared with us."
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
Educated at Eton College, Harvard University and Trinity College, Cambridge, Sir Torquil then did National Service in the RAF.
After subsequently working as an investment banker in the US for over a decade he returned to the UK in the 1960s and entered the toy making industry.
Sir Torquil was CEO of Berwick Timpo from 1973 and then in 1980 founded Bluebird Toys, makers of Big Yellow Teapot House, the Big Red Fun Bus and Polly Pocket.
The latter doll range had been designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 before Bluebird licensed the concept and they went on sale in 1989.
The original toys were plastic cases that opened to form a dollhouse or a playset with Polly figurines standing less than an inch tall.
Mattel took over distribution in the early 1990s, as part of an agreement with Bluebird, and went onto produce larger fashion dolls.
Both the toy line and company were fully acquired by Mattel in 1998, with the original Bluebird range now valuable collectables.
'IMPULSE BUY'
Meanwhile, in 1996 Sir Torquil bought the derelict Roundhouse arts venue in Chalk Farm, in north west London, for £3million "as an impulse buy" before raising £27million to restore it as a 1,700 performance space, re-opening in 2006.
The businessman stepped down as chairman of the Roundhouse Trust in 2007 and was knighted the same year for his "services to the arts and to disadvantaged young people".
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Sir Torquil went on to found the Global Vehicle Trust to provide affordable transport for rural areas in developing countries.
He had married Lady Elizabeth Ann Montagu in 1961, and they went onto have five children, including politician Jesse and artist Amy Sharrocks.