We
have just completed the move from our old site in Beccles to the new
purpose built factory at Ellough and a new chapter of our history has
commenced. To complement the new factory we have made significant
investment in new equipment throughout the manufacturing process.
200 Years of Innovation and Quality
William
Clowes founded the company on the 21st October 1803 at 2 Villiers Street
adjacent to the Strand in London. It was at these premises that Charles
Dickens started his working life as a blacking boy, his experiences
are recorded in Oliver Twist. The original premises were enlarged
in 1823 by the purchase of Northumberland Court and the first Applegarth
and Cooper steam press was installed, the speed of which enabled books
to be produced at a price that was in reach of the majority of people.
William acquired the premises of Applegarth and Cooper in 1826, and
the improved enlarged factory with its entrance in Duke Street was
acknowledged at the time as the largest printing works in the world.
In
1847 William and George took over from their father and in 1851 secured
the contract for the production of the catalogues for the Great Exhibition.
This was a major achievement for the company - half a million catalogues
were produced from 50 tons of type, 30,000 reams of paper and 3 tons
of ink. During 1873, two of the younger Clowes went into partnership
with William Moore, proprietor of the Caxton Press in Beccles, Suffolk.
Moore was left to run the business but soon disappeared with all the
monies. However, Clowes and Clowes prospered and in 1876 was valued
at £20,000 with 15 powerful presses and in 1880 amalgamated with
the London company to form William Clowes Limited.
The
premises at Duke Street were destroyed during the blitz in 1941 and
production, especially of journals, for the remaining war years was
greatly reduced. In the year following the war, the company needed
investment and it was decided to join forces with the family firm of
McCorquodale and Company which already had association with Blades,
East and Blades and Charles Skipper and East. A major expansion programme
at Beccles between 1953 and 1956 resulted in the Caxton Works becoming
one of the most efficient and best equipped book producing plants in
the world, producing 4 million bound books a year.
The
late seventies saw the installation of computerised phototypesetting
and Clowes became world renowned for output quality. The first heat
set web offset press was installed, principally to service work for
Butterworth Legal. In 1986 McCorquodale Books Ltd were acquired by
Norton Opax who were active in the security and lottery ticket market.
Norton Opax were themselves purchased by Bowater PLC in 1989 and William
Clowes became part of the largest print organisation in the UK. 1990
brought further investment in 4 colour printing and a Planeta size
7 press was installed to service a 5 year contract with Penguin Books
for Beatrix Potter products.
In
1997 the company's management bought the company from REXAM plc and
made a
substantial investment in digital technology partnered with IBM and
Xerox. 2002 saw the installation of an additional 4 unit heatset web
press,
effectively doubling the printing capacity and in 2003 computer to
plate technology was installed - exactly
200 years after the founding of the company.
In
2003 the site of the old factory in Beccles was sold, enabling the
company to move to new premises on the Beccles Industrial Estate at
Ellough, some three miles distant. The new purpose built factory is
now fully functional and a new Timson cold set book press and additional
modern binding equipment have been installed.