Ian Shepherd has stepped up from non-executive director to become Bensons for Beds chairman.
Shepherd, former Odeon ceo and Game Group chief executive, joined Bensons in September and succeeds Chris Howell.
Alteri Investors bought Bensons alongside Harveys and its bed production arm from Steinhoff International in November 2019.
In June 2020 Alteri bought back Bensons in a pre-pack administration that saw the closure of Harveys, and injected £25m into the chain. Seperately bed manufacturer Relyon regained its independence after being bought out of administration in August 2020 by investors led by its former chief executive Ian Topping.
‘I’d like to thank Chris for his leadership of the Bensons board through an extraordinary period. His leadership has enabled Bensons to emerge from lockdown strongly and well placed to continue with our planned transformation programme,’ says Gavin George, Alteri chief executive.
‘While Ian’s no stranger, I’m looking forward to working more closely with him as he takes on the chairman role as we continue supporting Bensons’ development.’
‘It’s an understatement to say these have been some of the most challenging times of my professional career, but working alongside my board colleagues, Mark Jackson and his leadership team, we’ve worked hard to protect the business and ensure it’s well placed to re-emerge from lockdown strongly. Having steered the business for the past 20 months through this period, the foundations are now in place for Bensons to successfully move forward. So, the time is right for me to move on and focus on my other commitments,’ says Howell.
‘Since joining the Bensons board, I’ve seen the potential this business has – great people, a strong brand and a British manufacturing capability that provides a distinctive customer proposition. And the strong trading we’ve seen since the end of lockdown has underscored how exciting that potential really is,’ says Shepherd.
