Granby is happy to announce that Stephen Bentley (Chairman) has decided to resign from his role and finally retire!
Stephen has been with the company for over 22 years and has seen the vast changes and developments which have taken place ever since he started. He has been a monumental figure in the history of the business and a catalyst for change throughout the business putting a significant emphasis on the power of technology to streamline the customer experience.
In 2000, the Granby team were clearly keen to grow the business into new areas that didn’t quite fit within the Omnicon Group. Stephen Bentley, then Chief Executive, purchased Granby Marketing from Omnicon, freeing them to grow into their full potential as a respected promotional marketing business.
Stephen was also selected as a Board Director of the Institute of Promotional Marketing. This meant he was able to lend his years of expertise to the IPM board and to share his knowledge to all the businesses that are a part of the institute.
“The IPM was privileged to have had Stephen serving as a Director for 20 years. He joined the IPM in 2001 and was made a Fellow in 2016. Stephen’s contribution and commitment to the organisation and the industry was outstanding and will be greatly missed. We wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement.”
– The Institute of Promotional Marketing.
Granby were offering a wider range of fulfilment solutions, but Stephen predominantly focused on the promotional marketing services sector. To support the delivery of these services, in 2002 Granby began to develop their own bespoke fulfilment technology, SCOPe, which would manage, track and report in a way that had never been done before – and still isn’t equalled, to this day.
Stephen took his place on the board as Chairman after a management buyout in 2013 by Managing Director Joanne Kimber. The team dropped the ‘Marketing’ part of the name: they realised they had become much more.
It has been fantastic for the business to have had Stephen as a lead figure; he has been a great mentor and inspiration to the staff.
As a business, they will definitely miss him however it is equally delightful for him to be focusing on his family, as they all wish him a long & happy retirement.
