Pioneering Worthing firm – the largest seller on eBay in the world – officially presented with two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex

Second-hand bookseller World of Books was one of only seven companies to achieve two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in 2022, its 20th year.

Lady Emma officially presented the awards at the headquarters in Woods Way, Goring, this afternoon, during the annual company barbecue.

An avid reader, Lady Emma said she had used the company's services in the past and had been really looking forward to the visit to see the operation.

She said: "My expectations were trebled, I'm completely speechless at what you do. It is absolutely fantastic, a wonderful operation."

Appropriately, she was presented with a rare book on ancient Irish civilization, a subject in which she takes a great interest as was brought up in Ireland, as a thank you gift.

Lady Emma said: "What an amazing achievement to get two of the Queen's Awards and these are particularly special because they date from April 21 last year, when of course her late Majesty was still alive. This will be among the few remaining that we will be giving out over the next couple of months.

"You are breaking territory and I am absolutely thrilled to bits that it should be in West Sussex."

She presented the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development and Queen’s Award for International Trade to World of Books Group chief executive Graham Bell and founder Simon Downes.

Mr Bell said: "The International Trade award is recognition that we are a truly global company now. The Sustainable Development award is testament to a business that by definition as it grows, the benefit to society grows as well.

"World of Books Group has been an accredited B Corp for four years and has just been re-accredited with a score of more than 100 points, putting it in the top tier.

"About 60 per cent of the revenue comes from outside the UK and there were only 12 countries in the world that World of Books did not sell to last year.

"We are recycling or reusing nearly 100million books a year. That is the equivalent of saving nearly 600,000 trees a year. In doing so, we are providing affordable literacy to people and also trying to donate a million books by 2025 to worthy causes."

Mr Bell and Mr Downes were invited to Buckingham Palace last year, where they spoke about the business to Charles, before he was King.

Mr Bell said: "He was quite fascinated by the business model and talked about his passion for environmental campaigns but also his belief that literacy, especially for access to books for less-developed countries and underprivileged people, was so important."

A pioneer of the circular economy, World of Books employs 800 people across five locations in three countries and it is the largest seller on eBay in the world. Last year, the group set up its own charity, Wob Foundation, which aims to benefit literacy and environmental campaigns.

World of Books was set up in 2002 when a group of book-loving entrepreneurs rescued a bag of books from a charity shop bin destined for landfill and sold them second-hand.

Mr Bell said: “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised at the Queen's Awards. One award win is brilliant, but to have won two awards really is a huge accolade and is a testament to the hard work and amazing results our people have delivered.

"Since our foundation, World of Books Group has been committed to balancing profit and purpose and we feel honoured to have won our award for sustainable business. It is also fantastic to have another win reflecting our growth in the international market.”