Nationality British Name Steve Bennett Children 6 | Years active 1972–present Occupation Entrepreneur Role Jewelry entrepreneur | |
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Spouse(s) Sarah Bennett nee Davies Residence Birmingham, United Kingdom | ||
Steve Bennett is a British gemstone expert and serial entrepreneur. He is known for his online shopping businesses.
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Early life and education
Bennett grew up in Birmingham, where he learned to sail and play the saxophone and guitar. He also studied geology. He was a poor student during his secondary education, but later completed a computer training course.
Career
As a young man, Bennett worked in a number of office based computer roles. After losing his job, he set up his own UK company selling computers and later software. This small enterprise later became Software Warehouse, and grew to be a 30 store retail chain in the 1990s. Bennett sold the company in 2000.
With the advent of the internet, Bennett established jungle.com which he later sold for £37 million at the height of the dotcom boom.
Bennet started several more e-commerce, retail and entertainment companies. He set up jewelry retailer Gems TV in 2004 and The Genuine Gemstone Company in 2007. The company employs about 500 staff members. In 2012 Genuine Gemstone was named to the Fast Track 100 list of fastest growing privately held companies.
In 2014 the company operates several brands, including Gems TV, a broadcast shopping channel; Rocks TV, which is shown on DirecTV and Dish TV; Gemporia.com, an ecommerce website which hosts live auction rooms and an online television show The Lounge; Jewellery Maker, a television channel and associated e-commerce website for jewellery making hobbyists; NOWSEEN.com, a fashion focused website aimed at a younger audience; and Gem Collector.com, an e-commerce website which sells loose gemstones.