One of the North west’s best-known family businesses is on course for a record-breaking year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. Wirral-headquartered Penketh Group is on track for a turnover of £11.3m, compared with £10m in 2015.
The 80-strong company works with clients to create outstanding working environments to enable it to achieve its business goals.
Its services include furniture and interiors, AV and technology, managed print solutions and business supplies. Today’s Penketh Group is led by managing director Mark Penketh, his two brothers and co-directors, Simon and Andy, and their senior management team.
The company was founded in 1976 by their father, Walter, and mother, Dorothy, and was originally based in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead. The early business offered a photocopying service but quickly branched out into stationery and office furniture.
It moved to its current offices on the Croft Business Park in Bromborough in 1988 and within 10 years had grown from a turnover of £1m to over £5m. Staff numbers also increased from 26 to 74.
Earlier this year, the company changed its name from Penketh’s to Penketh Group. It also opened an office in Manchester after being chosen as Steelcase’s partner for the North west. US-based Steelcase is a global leader in office furniture, interior architecture and space solutions.
Mark Penketh, who along with his brothers has worked in the family business for almost 40 years, says: “We are proud that, in our 40th year, we continue to go from strength to strength as a business.
“One of our strengths is that we have always been willing to reinvent ourselves, identifying opportunities and then putting in place plans to make the most of them.
“For example, when we moved to Bromborough we took the decision to move away from print and instead provide a managed print service. More recently, we have invested significantly in growing the office furniture side of the business, building expertise in creating exceptional working environments for our clients which help them achieve the best possible levels of productivity and employee engagement.”
Mark adds: “Being a family business gives us a certain strength and we work hard to ensure that every single employee feels part of the wider Penketh Group family. We have a lot of staff who have been with us for a very long time.”
The three brothers have sons in the business – Chris (Mark’s son), Greg (Andy’s son) and Adam (Simon’s son).
