75 Years of producing cardboard from Bristol

We are delighted to share the news that we are celebrating 75 years of trading! That’s 3 quarters of a century worth of specialist design in sustainable cardboard packaging solutions across a broad range of sectors. 

 

Over those 75 years, we have established and developed strong values which have carried us forward and given us a strong reputation of supply throughout, enabling us to stand the test of time. Values such as the strive to demonstrate best practice, go the extra mile for customers, and act with integrity in everything we do. 

 

Our 75th year has seen quite a major change for us. We were acquired by RH Fibreboard in March 2023. However, we continue to carry forward all those advantages that an independent family run sheet plant has for customers, suppliers, employees and the environment. 

 

Nick Thompson, Managing Director, explained: 

 

“S H Fiske’s journey began in 1948 by Stanley Herbert Fiske having being de-mobbed from the RAF. He got an allowance of board form the government and set up in the basement of his house in Totterdown Bristol with a lead table, blow lamb, steel rule and knife. He made rigid box and lids over the following 40 years, re-locating to Kingswood and becoming more automated on the way”. He continued: “In 1979 Richard and Tig Jarratt bought the business. Richard had been selling corrugated machines for a living and was looking to become his own boss. With his background in corrugated, Richard and Tig diversified into the corrugated sector buying their first corrugated machines in the early 1980’s and moving to bigger premises in 1982 in Longwell to cope with the company’s expansion and growth. The business slowly moved away from the Rigid Box sector to become 90% corrugated by the early 1990’s. In 1992 Richard further diversified into the Litho Laminated sector with the purchase of BMW Boards. This expanded the range into Showcards, Turn and Lock Dispensers and other POS items” The company grew organically from then, and purchased 2 more units on the site it is still on today to give a total manufacturing area of around 32,000 square feet” 

 

Today, we have retained our core capability of making Corrugated Cardboard products that we diversified into back in the eighties and nineties. Not just in standard cardboard products such as boxes or trays, but a variety of Niche offerings such as bespoke laminated fitments, dispensers, counter top displays and litho printed packaging.