TRIBUTES have been paid to the pioneering founder of an international engineering company based at Ulverston.

Brian Ainley, of Haverthwaite, known to many as founder of Marl International, passed away peacefully at Hollow Oak Nursing Home, aged 81 years.

Mr Ainley started Marl in 1973, and saw the company grow from operating from his garage, all the way to becoming industry leaders in the electronics industry.

Marl’s involvement as one of the pioneers in the LED industry is well documented, with the creation of eight innovative world firsts to date.

Adrian Rawlinson, who worked with Mr Ainley for years as managing director at Marl, said that: "Brian was an engineer and he told me the inspiration for that came from a fascination with electric fires when he was a very small child before the Second World War. He was also very curious and enjoyed taking things apart to try and understand how they worked.

"He was a successful student, very good at maths, physics and went on to specialise in Electronic Engineering. One of his best skills was truly understanding the properties of materials and how to apply this knowledge to the design process for both electronic components and systems.

"Ironically, he spent some time working with Ashley Accessories on the current site of Marl Business Park in the 1950s, before living and working in Paris for a number of companies and design projects, including early Electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment.

"In my opinion, Brian was an engineer who was more interested in the arts. Over the past 40 years visitors to Marl, (Marl Park, The Ellers, Stone Cross and more recently Marl Business Park on the Morecambe Road site), cannot have failed to notice a collection of grand pianos- a symbol and reminder of Brian’s love for all types of music, especially classical piano.

"At one point he owned 17 instruments, but will be remembered more for a long standing series of annual piano concerts held at Stone Cross Mansion, which hosted some of the world’s most prestigious classical pianists."

Brian and his family were from Huddersfield and a surprising number of links later developed between Marl and that area. Most notably in the 1970s was a collaboration with Broadbent centrifuges, which sadly followed a fatal accident at the Glaxo plant based in Ulverston in 1972.

But this did lead to the development and manufacture of the Protex range of centrifuge protection equipment, which were the first Marl products and the main activity of the business in the 1970s.

Mr Rawlinson added: "Brian worked incredibly hard to create Marl. Starting in his garage in the classic entrepreneurial fashion, working seven days a week, for many years. All who have been connected with Marl have some great memories and he will always be remembered fondly as the founder.

"Hundreds of people have worked and benefitted from the Company. Many have flown the nest and gone on to develop very successful careers elsewhere in the industry and beyond, benefitting from a solid foundation at Marl and inspiration from Brian. And for that we will always be grateful.

Friend and colleague Amanda Rigg said: "I worked for Brian for 10 years. He was a very unique man; one of a kind.

"He worked hard in life to become the man he was and it is so nice to hear of all the admiration and appreciation for him.

"He became a very good friend to me and my family, along with colleagues and friends and will be sadly missed."