Paul was appointed as CEO of a German research and development organisation (a subsidiary of a UK FTSE100 plc), and in 1999 was recruited as a Director in a “3i” venture-capital-backed start-up which completed five acquisitions to create a £50m food ingredients business.
In 2003 Paul was appointed as Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, (UKAS). After 15 years as CEO, during which time UKAS grew significantly both in size (four-fold in growth) and profitability, Paul took early retirement in September 2018.
Although greatly enjoying retirement, in 2019 Paul was invited to join the Research Advisory Council of FERA Science Ltd keeping him in touch with developments in the laboratory and food proficiency testing world.
Until July this year, Paul was a Trustee Board member of a medical professional body and Chair of their commercial trading arm. He currently advises two private equity-funded food industry start-up businesses. Paul has also recently advised the owners of two (non-UK) testing laboratories helping them prepare their respective businesses for a successful sale. He remains involved with various charitable and business activities.
Paul Stennett was awarded an MBE in 2008 in the Queen’s New Year Honours awards for Services to Business. He was then made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2013 for improving quality systems and accreditation in medical laboratories.
Paul is married with two grown-up daughters and lives in West Sussex.