On the 4th December 1974, Graham Cartledge joined Gordon Benoy & Partners, and little did it know but the firm had just taken its first tentative steps into retail. A contract to design a shopping centre in nearby Newark marked a break from its portfolio of rural outhouses. For Graham, who had recently witnessed the emergence of retail malls in the US, this shift seemed like a great opportunity.
“When I arrived at Benoy,” says Graham, “my first thought was that I didn’t really see a future in cowsheds. I’d previously dabbled in some commercial work in the UK, and I’d been involved in a few entrepreneurial ventures in the US, so this new retail development was really exciting. I seized the moment and threw myself into the project. And so began Benoy’s journey into the world of retail.”
Over the next few years, Benoy’s list of retail clients, along with its workforce and reputation, began to grow exponentially. In 1982, the Managing Director of real estate company Arrowcroft came to Graham with a proposition. An old chalk quarry in Kent, owned by Blue Circle Industries, had been earmarked for a major new retail development. Arrowcroft was a key stakeholder in the project and wanted to bring Benoy on board. Graham readily accepted. Bluewater, as it came to be known, would take 17 years to complete and in March 2025 celebrates its 25th anniversary, having become a multi-award-winning scheme retail design.
To support a growing client base, in 1995 Graham opened Benoy’s first studio in London, followed by Hong Kong in 2002, then Singapore and Shanghai in 2008. In the same year, and again in 2013, Graham received the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for his services to British industry abroad.
Today, while Graham has stepped away from the day-to-day running of the business, as chairman he remains wholly connected to its future under the leadership of Tom Cartledge, CEO, and daughter Amy Thornton, COO. Benoy, now with the addition of Pragma, focuses on converting data-driven insights into successful creative and commercial strategies, with opportunities opening in new sectors, such as aviation and sports stadia, as well as in other geographies such as North America. It may seem worlds away from the company he first joined 50 years ago, but for Graham it continues to be a deeply enriching and exciting journey:
“My work has taken me to some extraordinary places in some extraordinary roles. I’ve seen some remarkable things and hopefully, through the projects we’ve delivered, I’ve been able to give something back. That’s certainly what continues to motivate me.”
