The year 1740 saw the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven’s father, the first performance of the song Rule, Britannia!, and fisticuffs between Britain and Spain in the War of the Austrian Succession. It was also the year that London printer Witherbys started in business as a legal writer.
Traditions run deep at Witherbys. This year, in its 275th year, the London printing firm’s staff will enjoy a celebration of that landmark at The Old Ship Hotel in Brighton. ‘We had our 250th celebration there and back in the 40s, 50s and 60s they all used to go there quite often,’ says director James Greene. On display in the office of his co-director Bill Kelly are several of the publications the company produced to mark those visits in past decades.
This will not be Witherbys’ only celebration of its 275 years in existence. In July it also enjoyed a reception at the St Bride Foundation in London’s Fleet Street to pay tribute to its longevity. The firm began life as legal writers in 1740 in the City. It was founded by Thomas Witherby, Stationer, whose fine handwriting was a key selling point that brought in many solicitors’ documents – leases, wills and marriage settlements – and articles of agreement between merchants and ship owners, to be copied. Witherbys was passed down from father to son in a direct line from that point, but in 2005 Messrs Greene and Kelly became the first director stakeholders to be appointed from outside the family. Mr Kelly has in fact been with the company since 1972, when he joined as a junior accounts assistant, while Mr Greene – who is the managing director – joined in the 1990s.
It almost goes without saying that there has been considerable change at Witherbys over the years, not least its entry into letterpress printing through acquisition in 1860, and the development of a book publishing arm early in the 20th Century. The publishing business was merged with Seamanship International, a Scottish publisher, in 2008, and no longer has links with the printing business.
There are also now no members of the Witherby family directly involved in the day to day running of the company, although two retired members remain shareholders. The company that Messrs Greene and Kelly now oversee is very proud of its history and of the values of customer service that have seen customers and staff remain loyal for decades – if not centuries, since there are documents showing that the Worshipful Company of Coopers was a client in the 1740s, just as it is today.
Witherbys is keenly looking forward too though. It made its first step into digital printing in 1998, purchasing a Xeikon press, and after a spell where litho became the main focus again, it acquired Clerkenwell-based Abacus Print and its two Xeroxes (a 770 and 8080) in 2013.
‘The documents we produce digitally are a huge range: reports and personalised documents, presentation documents for City and West End institutions and corporates, that sort of thing; but very fast turnaround time is usually the driving factor,’ said Mr Kelly.
‘Digital is certainly an area that we are planning to develop and expand in. In about a year’s time we will be looking at upgrading the kit to something bigger and better, even though we’re very happy with the quality we get with the machines downstairs. There’s a definite steady growth on the digital side, so it’s about capacity and quality. At the moment, we cannot fault Xerox: the quality and service has been very good.’
Even with the plans for digital print, litho is still important, as evidenced by the investment in a new perfecting Heidelberg Speedmaster SM74 at Christmas 2014. There is an ongoing policy of investment that means much of the finishing kit is new too.
James Greene puts the company’s longevity down to traditional values. ‘One reason we have survived so long is that we have tried to listen to the customer and what their needs are,’ he said. ‘That has been key. And we’ve had a bit of luck here and there in that the companies that we have bought have just come along at the right moment. We were looking at digital but we did not have the financial investment for new kit, and Abacus came up at just the right time.’
In tandem with the 275th anniversary celebrations has also come a fresh new brand image. ‘Hopefully it will still send out the message about what we are: a long-established company that people can trust,’ said Bill Kelly. ‘We have no intentions to change the company in the foreseeable future. We just thought with the 275 years celebration it was a good time.’
