From left to right: Peter Owen, Stephen Allen, Max Allen, Ian Glen.

The Board of Directors

Stephen Allen, Chairman

Stephen began his career during the late 1970s in the stamp wholesale business founded in 1945 by his father, Harry Allen.  He launched The Westminster Collection during the 80s to bring commemorative stamp and coin collections to a wider collector audience.  Under Stephen’s direction the company developed direct marketing expertise to reach the mass-market nationwide.  During 1999 he took 288 Group in a new direction launching Sitters, now one of Britain’s leading childcare services.  With four decades of business experience Stephen is the Chairman and controlling shareholder of 288 Group Ltd.

Max Allen, Managing Director, Collectables

Max joined 288 Group after graduating from the University of St Andrews with a Maths degree.  As Head of Operational Improvement Max worked on deploying low-code applications to streamline workflows, and improve processes and information access in logistics, customer services, marketing, finance and HR.  In 2022 Max took on responsibility for 288 Group’s main trading division as Managing Director, Collectables.

Ian Glen, Director

Ian joined The Westminster Collection in 1994 after reading History at the University of Oxford.  Initially working as a Product Manager, he became Marketing Manager in 1996 before joining the Board in three years later.  For 20 years, Ian was responsible for 288 Group’s Collectables business, overseeing its transformation from traditional mail order to a modern e-commerce business.  He continues to support the business as a Director and holds day-to-day responsibility for our Systems Transformation Programme.

Peter Owen, Company Secretary

Peter first joined Harry Allen in 1984 where he gained experience managing a number of departments including trade sales and customer service.  He joined the Board in 1998 as Company Secretary and has responsibility for all legal and compliance matters and company administration.