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Sunday, August 5, 2018

La Rue de la Loi - Christian de Portzamparc
src: www.christiandeportzamparc.com

De La Rue plc (UK: , US: ) is a British banknote manufacturing, security printing of passports and tax stamps, brand authentication and paper-making company with headquarters in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex, and Bathford, Somerset. There are overseas offices in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Malta. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.


Video De La Rue



History

The company was founded by Thomas de la Rue (1793-1866), who moved from Guernsey to London in 1821 and set up in business as a 'Leghorn' straw hat maker, then as a stationer and printer. In 1831 he secured his business a Royal Warrant to produce playing cards. In 1855 it started printing postage stamps and in 1860 banknotes. In 1896, the family partnership was converted into a private company.

In 1921, the de la Rue family sold their interests. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1947. Then called Thomas De La Rue & Company, Limited, it changed its name in 1958 to The De La Rue Company Limited. A takeover bid for De La Rue was made by the Rank Organisation plc in 1968, but this was rejected by the Monopolies commission as being against the public interest. In 1991 the company's name was changed again - this time to De La Rue plc.

In 1965 De La Rue established a joint venture with the Italian printer and inventor Gualtiero Giori called De La Rue Giori. Based in Switzerland, the company specialized in building banknote printing equipment.

In 1995, the company acquired Portals Limited from the Portal family. For almost 300 years Portals had been regarded as the leading banknote paper manufacturer in the world, having manufactured banknote paper for the Bank of England since 1724.

In 1997, De La Rue acquired Harrison and Sons, the stamp and banknote printers based in High Wycombe. The factory closed permanently in 2003.

In 2003, the company acquired the Debden-based banknote printing operations of the Bank of England.

In 2003 and 2004 the company supplied banknotes to Iraq.

The company was recognised by Hermann Simon as a role model for other small- to medium-sized businesses in his book Hidden Champions.

The Highest Perfection, a history of De La Rue was published in 2011. Written by Peter Pugh for De La Rue, it covered the years 1712-2003.

In August 2014, the company announced the appointment of Martin Sutherland (formerly of BAE Systems Applied Intelligence) as chief executive officer.

In 2016, the Cash Handling division (Cash Processing Systems) was sold to Privet Capital.

In September 2016 The Bank of England issued the new UK five pound note, the first UK note to be printed on polymer.

In December 2016 the company announced it will acquire the DuPont Authentication division.

In March 2018, the company sold the paper business which will now trade independently. De La Rue retains a 10% share in the new business, Portals.

In April 2018, the company decided to appeal against the decision of the British government to manufacture their Post-Brexit passports in France.


Maps De La Rue


Operations

Banknotes

De La Rue sells high-security paper and printing technology for over 150 national currencies.

Security printing and papermaking

De La Rue also produces a wide range of other secure documents, including:

  • Bank cheques
  • Driving licences
  • Passports
  • Postage stamps
  • Tax stamps
  • Traveller's cheques
  • Vouchers

De La Rue - The World of Playing Cards
src: www.wopc.co.uk


Past products

Playing cards

In 1843 De La Rue established its first overseas trade, as de la Rue's brother Paul travelled to Russia to advise on the making of playing cards. Thomas de la Rue's designs for playing cards are the basis for the modern standard design. The playing card business was sold to John Waddington in 1969.

Postage stamps

The company has also printed postage stamps for the United Kingdom and some of its colonies, for Italy and for the Confederate States of America. Some famous stamps such as the Cape of Good Hope triangulars were printed by De La Rue & Co. after Perkins Bacon fell out of favour with the postal authorities of the time. The first 50 years of postage stamp production were chronicled in John Easton's The De La Rue History of British and Foreign Postage Stamps 1855-1901 (Faber & Faber, London, 1958).

Writing instruments

De La Rue claims to have developed the first practical fountain pen in 1881 and was a leading manufacturer of fountain pens in Britain. Products were marketed under the "Onoto" brand. Production of fountain pens by De La Rue ceased in Britain in 1958 but continued for a few more years in Australia.

Board games

During the 1930s De La Rue created a number of board games. These included a cricket game, Stumpz, which was produced in a number of different editions, and Round The Horn, a game which re-created the then annual race of grain-laden, square-rigged sailing cargo ships from Australia to London. The games consisted of high quality components and used playing cards as part of the component set.


Jaime Meets Celebrity Trainer Simone De La Rue | Revenge Body With ...
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Gallery of products produced by De La Rue


Pub Power at the Thomas de la Rue
src: www.chargepoint.co.uk


See also

  • Banknotes of the pound sterling
  • Commonwealth banknote-issuing institutions
  • Gemalto - a competitor
  • Giesecke & Devrient - a competitor based in Munich
  • Hong Kong Note Printing - founded in 1984 by Thomas De La Rue

Rue de la Paix, Paris - Wikipedia
src: upload.wikimedia.org


References


Les Garçons de la Rue | Flawless Milano - The Lifestyle Guide
src: www.flawlessmilano.com


External links

  • Official website
  • History of De La Rue's playing cards
  • A research website with more detail of De La Rue company history
  • Article and images of 1930s De La Rue Board Game, Stumpz

Source of the article : Wikipedia

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