Arjowiggins was an independent paper manufacturer which at one time had mills in England, Scotland, France and the US. The company was liquidated in 2019, and several brands were acquired by Fedrigoni and Antalis among others.

History

The company's origins go back to 1761 when Buckland Mill in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

commenced operations. Meanwhile, in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in the middle of the 20th century there were four competing paper mills that manufactured sophisticated paper products with high added value, especially security papers (banknotes, passports, etc.). A joint merger plan was drawn up in 1954 and led to the formation of the first French paper-manufacturing group: Arjomari. The name of the group came from the first two letters of the names of the paper mills participating in the merger: Arches, Johannot, Marais, Rives. In 1890, Buckland Mill was bought by ''Wiggins Teape'', a paper milling business formed some 40 years earlier by Edward Wiggins and Henry Teape. In 1970, the company was acquired by BAT Industries, who went on to acquire ''Appleton Papers'' of the US in 1978. The business expanded rapidly in the 1980s as it exploited the market in carbonless paper. In 1989 the UK and US paper businesses were demerged from BAT Industries and integrated to form ''Wiggins Teape Appleton''. In 1990, it acquired the Catalan paper company Guarro, one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1698 and established in the town of Gelida. In 1991 it merged with Arjomari-Prioux of

to form ''Arjowiggins Appleton''. Its distribution business was demerged in 2000 as ''Antalis''. It was acquired by Worms & Cie in 2000. Worms & Cie evolved to become Sequana Capital but was placed in liquidation in 2019. A management buyout of the Arjowiggins business in the UK by managing director Jonathan Mitchell, securing 500 jobs in Stoneywood and

Chartham Chartham is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs, North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south west of Ca ...

, was completed in September 2019. A second phase of the management buyout of the Arjowiggins overseas business, securing 300 jobs in Gelida in Spain and

Quzhou Quzhou is a prefecture-level city in western Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the upper course of the Qiantang River, it borders Hangzhou to the north, Jinhua to the east, Lishui to the southeast, and the provinces of F ...

in China, was completed in October 2019. In October 2022 the company went into administration, followed by closure in November 2022. The Chartham and Stoneywood Mills were offered for redevelopment. Arjowiggins China was acquired by Fedrigoni in 2023.

Operations

The company produced papers for various purposes including

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

packaging and labeling Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...

and

security printing Security printing is the field of the printing industry that deals with the printing of items such as banknotes, cheques, passports, tamper-evident labels, security tapes, product authentication, stock certificates, postage stamps, and identity c ...

at Stoneywood and

mills in the UK, in Gelida in Spain and in

in China.

References

External links

Corporate site
* Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies established in 1761 Pulp and paper companies of France Manufacturing companies of Scotland Privately held companies of Scotland 1761 establishments in Scotland Manufacturing companies established in 1761 {{UK-company-stub