In a year of special anniversaries and milestones for Hypnos, including its 120th as a family-run British bedmaker and 95th as a Royal Warrant Holder, it’s been an absolute pleasure for the business to celebrate the 80th birthday of Peter Keen.
Passionate about the family-owned business he inherited in his early thirties, Peter has been central to driving the brands success through hospitality partnerships and cementing lifelong relationships with many retailers and suppliers throughout the years.
His strong character, sense of fun, and broad experience has made him a determined initiator of change, transforming the business to a global brand, and representing the industry on key issues with both the NBF, BFM and The Furniture Makers’ Company – whether that be establishing the annual Bed Show or encouraging the early beginnings of mattress recycling.
Peter has also eagerly championed numerous community ventures, charities and conservation groups within Buckinghamshire, with his genuine interest and commitment to the areas rich furniture-making heritage and beauty.
“The legacy of Peter’s charismatic nature and determined drive is apparent across the Hypnos brand and team approach today,” David Baldry, Group Managing Director of Hypnos said. ”The strong sense of family and loyalty remains and the Hypnos ‘quirkiness’ and pioneering spirit shines through – it enables us to be true to our values and determined to push new initiatives forwards.”
“I’m always struck by the number of stories about Peter so we set about collating them from his friends across the industry. We were overwhelmed with stories of kind gestures, a lot of wine and a great sense of fun which is something that we strive to continue!”.
“One of Peter’s greatest strengths is spotting people who get things done’ said Jessica Alexander, from The Furniture Makers Company, who first met Peter at the NBF conferences over 30 years ago and worked with him at the NBF during his presidency from 2006-9. “Looking back, Peter has been at the forefront of quite a number of industry innovations.”
She describes Peter ‘as larger than life, outrageous, unpredictable, never sticking to a script’ but, as with many others we heard from, kind, fun, and loyal.
Having found so many people willing to give stories, memories, and gold pens, pictures and year books, the team at Hypnos are creating a little red book that can be shown for all to see at the NBF Bed Show this year – the Bed Show that Peter started.
