150 Years of Bagnalls: Our Top 5 Favourite Achievements
07 March 2025
As we celebrate 150 years of Bagnalls, our team is looking back at some of our favourite company-wide achievements of recent years. From prestigious award wins and rewarding charity work, to targeted support and training for the next generation of talent, there’s a lot to take pride in!
As Group Managing Director and the fifth-generation director of our family business, Stephen Bagnall says: “Our fantastic, dedicated people make Bagnalls the success it is today. I can’t wait to see what our next achievements will be. Here’s to the next 150 years and beyond!”
Discover our top five favourite achievements of recent years below.
1. Our Community Paintbrush scheme
The ethos of our Community Paintbrush scheme has always been ‘putting communities first through donations’. In the 13 years since it first began in 2012, the scheme has evolved greatly – but it has always stayed true to this core value.
Community Paintbrush began purely as an environmental scheme, focused on donating tins of paint to worthy causes. However, it has now grown to support sponsorship of local community sports teams, the development of worthy organisations and the donation of raffle prizes.
Fantastic recent projects include the donation of 150 tins of paint to Lewisham College in London, the sponsorship of Halls FC – a brilliant under-8’s football team – and donations to The Salvation Army, FareShare, the British Heart Foundation and more!
2. Bagnalls Apprentice Training Academy
Our Apprentice Training Academy is upskilling the next generation of talent. Another success story that continues to evolve, our Training Academy now boasts a full-time Group Academy Tutor in the form of the brilliant Joel Mortlock, as well as a complete and varied syllabus.
Increasing the diversity of our apprenticeship intake and encouraging more women to see painting and decorating as a viable career path is very important to us. We’re proud of the fact that, in 2024, one-third of our apprentices were women.
The talent displayed in recent years has been fantastic, with multiple Bagnalls apprentices winning prestigious awards, volunteering for exciting opportunities abroad and leading historic projects.
We take great pride in investing in the next generation of talent entering the painting and decorating industry. In fact, many of our current Branch Managers and Directors began their careers with us as apprentices, highlighting the success that can be achieved in this industry with determination, drive and a positive attitude!
3. FBU Supreme Champion!
Bagnalls is the reigning Family Business United Supreme Champion as we celebrate our 150th anniversary! It’s wonderful to have had all our hard work and dedication as a family business recognised with this prestigious title. However, we couldn’t have achieved this level of success without the talent, support and work ethic of the Bagnalls family.
Stephen Bagnall says: “I want to take this moment to celebrate every single member of the Bagnalls team – from our painters and decorators travelling up and down the country and our enthusiastic apprentices, to our managerial and directorial teams, as well as the administration and marketing staff that make all our projects possible.
“The title of Supreme Champion is a reality for Bagnalls thanks to all your hard work – I’m so proud to work with such a great group of people! Thank you.”
4. Penkridge – for the future
After 149 years based in Shipley, we’re celebrating our 150th anniversary in our brand-new Head Office, Penkridge, in Cleckheaton. Featuring contemporary work spaces, private meeting booths and an incredible Heritage Room, showcasing our history as a family business, Penkridge is definitely a space to be proud of.
Neil Ogilvie, CEO of The Painting and Decorating Association, had this to say when he visited our Head Office: “It was glorious to see the Alfred Heritage room, which captures five generations of company history. I particularly like the new initiatives that have been included in the building to help paint a greener future.”
The head office also features solar panels, which power Penkridge and produce excess electricity that is funnelled back to the grid, making our new campus environmentally friendly – built with sustainability and the future of our planet in mind. This new campus also features a second office, Lindale, which houses our Special Projects and North Contracting teams.
5. Our Management Trainee programme
Established by Bagnalls in 1977, our Management Trainee programme is unique in its offering. Linking directly to our core values, the programme highlights our investment in people and our commitment to the future of our family business.
By investing in the next generation of managerial talent, we can ensure that Bagnalls remains a positive place to work that upholds the values of quality, health and safety and dedication. Our Management Trainees are certainly a talented bunch, with trainee Max Rollinson recently winning The Lloyds Banking Group Rising Star of the Year award!
As with our apprentices, a number of our management and directorial team also began their career journey as Bagnalls Management Trainees. The success of our training programme is testament to our investment in the future of individual careers and the development of the Bagnalls family as a whole.
Our positive approach to Management Trainees also highlights our dedication to helping our people develop their skills. This dedication resulted in Bagnalls being named ‘Employer of the Year’ at the 2025 Yorkshire Business Insider Awards.
Reminiscing about some of our favourite achievements from recent years has made us excited for what will come next for Bagnalls. What will the next 150 years bring? With award nominations, further sustainability efforts, apprenticeship projects and more already in the works, the sky’s the limit!