Graham Bennington, former CEO of BemroseBooth in Hull, UK, passed away on October 20 after a short battle with cancer. He was 66.

Bennington joined what was then known as the Bemrose Corporation in 1977. Over the years he held a number of positions within the company before becoming CEO in 2000.

Martin Varley, CEO of industry business services provider Customer Focus, credits Bennington for getting him into the promotional products industry. In a LinkedIn post, he writes, “He was so talented as a business leader it was impossible to hold him in anything but the highest of esteems, he was an expert negotiator, HR guru (he called it personnel) and leader. He took a company that was just a supplier of car park and rail tickets to the number one company for promo products in the world. He knew when to invest and when to divest, he shared his skills widely, encouraged enthusiastically, and every now and again very elegantly gave you that look and you knew you had not quite done your best.

“He supported me when I didn’t deserve it, he had my back, front and side and we laughed and we laughed and we laughed.”

Bennington passed away at the Butterfly Hospice in Boston, Lincolnshire. He is survived by his wife Sandie, and children Suzy and Ian.