{{short description|British entrepreneur}} {{Multiple issues| {{Copy edit|date=February 2026}} {{BLP no footnotes|date=September 2025}} }} thumb|Cressida Granger (2023) '''Cressida Granger''' is a British entrepreneur. She is the owner and managing director of Mathmos, the lighting company founded by Edward Craven Walker, inventor of the lava lamp. ==Career== Granger graduated in History of Art from University of Manchester. She then became a vintage design dealer, specialising in furniture and lighting from the 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, she started buying lava lamps from the original factory in Poole and selling them at Camden Market.

She was offered the opportunity to take over the original lava lamp business by inventor and owner Edward Craven Walker and his wife Christine. Alongside business partner David Mulley, Granger spent the next ten years repositioning and growing the Mathmos company. They bought out the Craven Walkers over several years, with Edward Craven Walker remaining a consultant until his death in 2000; Christine remains close to Mathmos.

Mathmos grew strongly during the 1990s, with British-made lava lamps finding a worldwide audience. Mathmos won a host of Business and Marketing Awards, including a Queen's Award for Export in 1997<ref>{{cite news |title=Export winners |work=The Times |date=1997-04-21 |page=42}}</ref> and 2000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Awards for Enterprise 2000, International Trade |work=The Times |date=2000-04-21 |page=75}}</ref>

In 1998, David Mulley left Mathmos, and Granger became Mathmos's sole owner and managing director. The following year, she was on the shortlist of four for the Verve Cliquot Business Woman of the Year Award.{{cn|date=May 2026}} Granger spent the next decade diversifying the business into different ambient lighting products with a team of internal and external designers; this won Mathmos new customers and several prestigious design awards.{{cn|date=May 2026}}

Mathmos retained its British manufacture of the original lava lamp range, gently expanding it to include new models. Around 2010, Granger decided to narrow Mathmos' focus to its quality lava lamp range and to focus on direct to consumer sales. Mathmos now directly supplies customers all over Europe with its much-enlarged range, from small candle-powered lava lamps to giant floor-standing versions.

In 2023, Mathmos celebrated its 60th anniversary by opening a factory shop in its original home in Poole, Dorset. Granger and the Mathmos team also worked with five creatives, including Duran Duran, Rankin and Sabine Marcelis, to produce limited edition customised versions of its classic 1963 design Astro.

==Creative industry activities== Granger was part of the Government Innovation Review Committee with James Dyson and Terrance Conran in 2003. She has sat on selection and judging panels for various design bodies including 100% Light, D&AD Awards and Design Nation Awards. Granger lectures occasionally at Ravensbourne Design College on entrepreneurship in design businesses. Granger is a director of the Made in Britain (campaign), a campaign seeking to establish a marque to identify British made goods.

==Business and marketing awards== Queens Awards for Export 2000 and 1997 :Veuve Cliquot Woman of the Year Finalist 1999 :Fast Track 100 (3rd fastest growing manufacturer 1999) :Yell Award best commercial website 1997 :Design Week Best Consumer website 1998

==Design awards== Queen's Awards for Export (1997 and 2000) Red Dot Awards: 2006 (Grito), 2002 (Tumbler), 2001 (Bubble) :Gift Magazine Design Homewares winner 2005 (Airswitch tc) :Design Week commendations: 2004 (Airswitch Az), 2003 (Aduki), 2002 (Tumbler), 2001 (Fluidium) :House and Garden best consumer product 2004. (Airswitch Az) :Form 2001 Award (Tumbler) :Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) 2001 (Bubble) :D&AD commendation 2001 (Bubble) :Light Magazine Decorative Lighting Award 2001 (Bubble) :FX Magazine finalist best lighting product 2000 (Fluidium)

==References== {{reflist}}

* [https://www.madeinbritain.org/news/lava-lamps-in-spotlight-mathmos-enduring-power-british-heritage-manufacturing-jan-26 Lava lamps in the spotlight: Mathmos and the enduring power of British heritage manufacturing, Made in Britain, January 2026] * [https://madeinshoreditch.co.uk/2025/12/04/iconic-lava-lamp-mathmos-cressida-granger/ Cressida Granger on the Evolution of the Iconic Mathmos Lava Lamp, MiS Magazine, December 2025] * [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/25/lava-lamps-shopping-trends-mathmos-retail Nostalgic and Calming: lava lamps are groovy again as sales flow, The Guardian, December 2025] * [https://www.wallpaper.com/design-interiors/lighting/lava-lamp-sabine-marcelis-new-models The first-ever lava lamp has been reissued, alongside a new giant version. October 2025] * [https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/24/sabine-marcelis-lava-lamp-three-metre-tall/ Sabine Marcelis designs "milky" three-metre-tall lava lamp, October 2025] * [https://mathmos.com/mathmos-press-new-york-times/ Everybody Has a Lava Lamp Story, New York Times, November 2024] * [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/oct/15/ingrained-in-the-fabric-of-british-society-the-iconic-lava-lamp-turns-60 ‘Ingrained in the fabric of British society’: the iconic lava lamp turns 60, The Observer] * [https://www.ft.com/content/051d05fd-68ef-46f3-85ac-e8a4d8632992 Is there something I should glow? Duran Duran unveil a lava lamp, Financial Times, October 2023] * [https://d5mag.com/from-retro-vibes-to-contemporary-cool-mathmos-celebrates-60th-anniversary/ From Retro Vibes to Contemporary Cool – Mathmos Celebrates 60th Anniversary, Design Magazine, 2023] * [https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23823102.poole-company-mathmos-releases-limited-edition-lava-lamps/ Poole company Mathmos releases limited-edition lava lamps, Bournemouth Daily Echo, October 2023] * [https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/lava-lamp-mathmos-product-design-080823 Creators of Lava Lamp to celebrate its 60th anniversary with collaborations with Camille Walala and more, It's Nice That] * [https://www.luxuriousmagazine.com/60-years-of-the-mathmos-lava-lamp/ Mathmos Celebrates the Lava Lamp's 60th Anniversary with Exciting Collaborations, Luxurious Magazine, August 2023] * [https://www.bhg.com/decorating/home-accessories/lava-lamp-history/ Learn How the Lava Lamp Became a Groovy Icon of 1960s Style, Better Homes & Gardens, March 2022] * [http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1217039/ How I Beat The Odds: Cressida Granger of lava lamp pioneer Mathmos, Management Today, October 2013] * [https://www.independent.co.uk/property/interiors/the-secret-history-of-the-lava-lamp-2313946.html The Secret History Of: The Lava lamp The Independent] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2900279.stm Dyson to advise government BBC] * [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jan/13/mondaymediasection8 My new media - The Guardian ] * [http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/sitesearch.do?querystring=cressida+granger&sectionId=2&p=sto&pf=all The Times]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} * [http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/modern-retro/1113486.article Modern retro - Design Week] * [http://www.iconeye.com/read-previous-issues/icon-010-|-february-2004/british-manufacturing-renaissance-|-icon-010-|-february-2004 British manufacturing Renaissance - ICON Magazine] * [http://www.mathmos.com/Our-story.html Mathmos' Story] * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23754303 Lava lamp creators mark 50 years of 1960s icon, BBC News, Aug 2013] * [http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2013/09/11/largest-lava-lamp/ Far out, man: world’s largest lava lamp on show at the South Bank, Time Out, September 11, 2013] * [https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/09/lava-lamp-50/ Lava Lamp’s 50 Years of Gooey Light, Wired, September 2013] * [http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2013-09-03/lava-lamps-50th-anniversary/ Lava lamp creators mark 50 years of 1960s icon, ITV, September 2013] * [http://www.artlyst.com/articles/the-lava-lamp-1960s-psychedelic-icon-celebrates-its-50th-anniversary The Lava Lamp: 1960s Psychedelic Icon Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary, Artlyst Aug 2013] * [https://www.thetimes.com/article/lava-lamps-flow-back-into-fashion-gzptlzr807p Lava lamps flow back into fashion, The Times, September 2013] * [http://www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/made-in-britain-campaign-appoints-ceo-to-push-british-manufacturers-further/ Made in Britain Campaign appoints CEO to push British manufacturers further, Business Matters, April 22, 2015] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110926192359/http://www.mathmos.com/Our-story.html History of Mathmos and the original lava lamp]. ''www.mathmos.com''. Retrieved: 22 August, 2025 * [http://www.imovatedesign.co.uk/astro/Intro.html The History of the UK lava lamp]. ''<nowiki>http://www.imovatedesign.co.uk</nowiki>.'' Retrieved: 22 August, 2025 {{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Cressida}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:British businesspeople