98 COMPANY PROFILE
The Stephenson way: reinvention and innovation
Editor Tim Probert visits Stephenson, the UK-based manufacturer of syndet bars, soap bases and other speciality ingredients for personal care. A family-owned firm that dates back to 1856, Stephenson has undergone significant change to adapt to market needs and is reaping the rewards of sustainability trends
Over its 166-year history, Stephenson has gone full circle. In 1856, Stephenson formed in Bradford, Yorkshire at the heart of British wool trade. Back then it made soap-based agents for the processing of wool. In the intervening years, Stephenson – part
of Thomas Bentley & Son – evolved to make industrial chemicals for the paper and rubber industries but is now back focused almost entirely on making soap - for humans, if not wool. Stephenson is a family-owned business. Chief
executive Jamie Bentley, 51, is the great-great grandson of founder Thomas Bentley, while Jamie’s father Richard, 79, is chairman. Yet Jamie Bentley was not necessarily
destined to take over the family firm. He failed his school chemistry exam and, having gone to art school, his first foray into gainful employment was as a ski guide in France before becoming a waterski instructor in Turkey. Bentley eventually got a proper job after
applying to become a marketing assistant at chemicals distributor Ellis and Everard, which became Univar, and he later enrolled on their management programme. After progressing to be in charge of a distribution centre, Bentley was offered a job with German chemicals distribution outfit Brenntag. Yet by the late 1990s, Stephenson was somewhat struggling and Bentley was faced with a dilemma after father Richard offered him the chance to join the family business. “It was along the lines of: ‘We have a problem in the business, all these industrial markets that we’re in have become commoditised,’” says Jamie Bentley. “In the past you could go to one of around 150
tyre factories, solve a problem, win the business, move on. But suddenly our customers were giants. It was all about price - Stephenson was busy but not making any money. “My father said to me: ‘If you ever want to join
our business, now is the chance because we’ve got to change it and I think we should sell into the personal care industry’.” Jamie Bentley finally joined Stephenson
in January 1998 to lead the speciality soap business, but it had no personal care products or customers. It did, however, have the idea of making a hot pour translucent soap base, for which it foresaw a big market. They were right. Launched in 1999, Stephenson
Speciality Soap’s Crystal Melt & Pour soap base became an instant hit for personal care applications.
PERSONAL CARE October 2022
Speciality soap base sales grew from
nothing to £3.5 million in 1999, the same year the company was asked to advise on the use of soap to make fake snow for ‘Fight Club’, the film starring Brad Pitt. At this time, Stephenson expanded its
manufacturing site in Horsforth near Leeds to include a 1,000-tonne storage capacity building and in 2000 it won a Queen’s Award for Industry. The success of Crystal set in train the
transformation of the company from one with fingers in all sorts of pies – rubber tyre additives, insecticide-coated binder for mosquito nets, newspaper-washing technology and the like – to one focused on innovative personal care products.
Tapping into trends Stephenson’s ability to anticipate trends has kept it ahead of the curve. By 2009, Stephenson Speciality Soap had become Stephenson Personal Care and sold a range of fully certified organic soap bases, including Liquid Soap and Bodycare bases. The Horsforth factory is the first soap- making plant in the world to have both the UK Soil Association Certification and the ISO 14001 Environmental Standard.
In 2010, it became the first soap base
manufacturer to sell 100% RSPO-certified sustainable palm and palm kernel oil soap bases. In 2015 it launched its first Fair Trade- certified soap bases. Stephenson has benefitted in the boom in small personal care brands able to sell to consumers directly via the internet, particularly in the US. It has also been a major beneficiary of other trends in personal care. During the pandemic, Stephenson saw sales
of Crystal Melt & Pour soar in the domestic market. The firm sells 1 kilogram tubs of the product, which can be cut and melted in a microwave as the foundation of a ‘make your own soap’ kit, in Hobbycraft stores in the UK and Michaels in the US. The firm has also benefitted from the
solid format, waterless formulation trend. “All of a sudden there’s a move towards anti- plastic packaging and anti-water around the world. And all the big guys got rid of all their soap making kit and experience - with a few exceptions,” says Bentley. “We have found ourselves in a space where
we had the technical ability to sell solid format personal care - we just called it soap!”
“People who understand their weaknesses ask for help, and asking for help builds trust and builds
teams .” Jamie Bentley - chief executive, Stephenson
www.personalcaremagazine.com
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