The National Labour Press (NLP) was founded in 1909 to undertake printing for the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP). It published the ''Labour Leader'' as well as other ILP material. It was originally located at 30 Blackfriars Street. In July 1915

Herbert Nield Sir Herbert Nield Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC, King's Counsel, KC, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (20 October 1862 – 11 October 1932) was a barrister and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Biograp ...

, Conservative MP for

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, raised in parliament his concerns about the activities of the

Union of Democratic Control The Union of Democratic Control was a British advocacy group, pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive foreign policy. While not a pacifism, pacifist organisation, it was opposed to military influence in government. World Wa ...

(UDC) and the ILP were holding "over 200 meetings weekly" and distributing literature. Following police raids, censorship was imposed on the ''Labour Leader'', but the police in Manchester were cautious in seizing only sample copies of UDC literature. As it happened the

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

magistrates did not deem the material to be illegal. From March 1916 the NLP printed ''The Tribunal'', a weekly newspaper, for the

No Conscription Fellowship The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British pacifism, pacifist organisation which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway, Baron Brockway, Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen, 1st Baron Allen of Hurtwood, Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, f ...

. The police raided the NLP and dismantled the press, but ''The Tribunal'' continued to be published via a secret press which the police had not found.

Blackfriars Press

The Blackfriars Press Limited was formed as a subsidiary in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1914 to undertake work. It moved to

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 1922.

Annie Maxton Annie Drummond Maxton (9 February 1888 – 1981) was a Scottish socialist politician and trade unionist. Born in Pollokshaws, Renfrewshire in February 1888, Maxton was convinced to join the Independent Labour Party (ILP) by her elder brother, Ja ...

(the sister of

James Maxton James Maxton (22 June 1885 – 23 July 1946) was a Scottish left-wing politician, and leader of the Independent Labour Party. He was a pacifist who opposed both world wars. A prominent proponent of Home Rule for Scotland, he is remembered as on ...

) and

Emrys Hughes Emrys Daniel Hughes (10 July 1894 – 18 October 1969) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, journalist and author. He was Labour MP for South Ayrshire in Scotland from 1946 to 1969. Among his many published books was a biography of his father ...

were both one time members of the management committee. The company was the first in the UK to print

Nescafé Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee sold by the multinational food and drink corporation Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee br ...

labels. The contract was arranged following a chance meeting of the then managing director, W. M. Stafford. He met with a member of the

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

family whilst on a mountaineering holiday in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the 1940s. The business was registered as a friendly society and in the early 1980s the ILP gave the business to its employees to trade as a co-operative. Lack of finance and bad debts caused the company to close in 1984.

Archival resources

* Correspondence, minutes, papers and accounts are held by Glasgow City Archives, based in the

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library located in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the largest public reference library in Europe, and the centre of Glasgow's public library system. History The library was initiall ...

. *Other material is kept in the ILP archive at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

References

British companies established in 1909 Defunct companies based in Manchester Companies based in Leicester Co-operatives in the United Kingdom Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Independent Labour Party Printing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1909 {{UK-company-stub