The Yorkshire Mafia Conference 2012

Ken Brook-Chrispin, CEO of Seabrook Crisps

Seminar: A Savoury Tale of David and Goliath

A proud Yorkshireman through and through, Ken attended school in Pudsey and College in Sheffield before qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1974.

He became involved with Seabrook through his wife who, along with her two siblings, inherited the business from their father and founder of the iconic crisp brand, Colin Brook, in 2000. Ken saw the potential that was waiting to be unlocked at Seabrook, and eventually bought the business in 2006, allowing the three family members to concentrate their attentions fully on other personal interests.

A self-proclaimed entrepreneur and innovator, Ken relished the challenge he faced on assuming ownership. The company was performing adequately but, following a media battering by politicians and a top TV chef regarding unhealthy snack food, Seabrook’s sales within schools declined massively, accounting for about 25% of the company’s turnover. Ken was now faced with a dilemma – how could he turn a regional, family-run business in steep decline into a national household name?

So began the restructuring of Seabrook, spearheaded by a newly appointed, highly qualified and experienced board and management team led by Ken. The hard work has started to pay off, with Seabrook seeing exponential growth and ongoing record sales, with volumes up by 125%. Ken is immensely proud of the team’s achievements to date, and is glad to have firmly established Seabrook as a major player in the UK snack market. (Seabrook Crisps is officially Britain’s fastest growing quality crisp brand and the UK’s 5th fastest growing privately owned food & drink brand with a CAGR of 35.7%.)

In his spare time, Ken is an avid sports enthusiast, fitting in at least two tennis matches a week. Sport has always played a significant role in his life, and he has undertaken everything from captaining his college rugby union team to owning and running his own squash club. He has also been an active member of his local golf and tennis clubs for many years.

Ken lives in Ilkley with his wife Jane and family dogs. Supported by an exceptional team both personally and professionally, he looks forward to the future with gusto, anticipating even greater things for the years ahead.

It is both an honour and a privilege to be speaking at The Yorkshire Mafia conference where I hope to further cement the relationship between two great Yorkshire brands, one old and one new, whilst also celebrating our fantastic and dynamic region. Seabrook Crisps are delighted to be involved and I am personally very excited about sharing my experiences of growing the brand on a national scale and in a very competitive marketplace but without losing the core values of the business and remaining ‘proud to be Yorkshire’ throughout.
I am hopeful that the conference will provide a great platform to showcase the fact that Yorkshire as a business community is a compelling force and that together we are stronger
Ken Brook-Chrispin, Chairman and CEO, Seabrook Crisps