G . F Smith: Lockwood Street Tour

Lockwood Street Entrance

Following the visit to G . F Smith's Paper City, a friend and myself were given the opportunity to have a personal tour of the paper merchant's Lockwood Street premises in Hull. We were guided around the factory by paper consultant Steve Taylor. This site has been home to G . F Smith since 1947 following the destruction of its former Hull and London premises as a result of WWII bombings.

Firstly, we were taken into a room exhibiting a range of packaging, publications, cards and other products which utilise G . F Smith's papers. These included pieces for the likes of Burberry, Mulberry, Glenfiddich, The White Company and Miller Harris amongst others, showing the company as a popular choice among some of the world’s most exclusive beauty, fashion and cosmetics brands.

Then, we passed through the sample room. Here, the swatches found in the Collection swatch book are available in A4 sample sheets, sent directly from the factory on request in every colour, shade, texture and weight from the Collection.

Following the sample room, we entered the factory floor in which all of G . F Smith's standard size stocks are held on pallets. We were even taken up in the lift to see how these were placed/removed during the daily operations of the factory. 

Next, we were introduced to a range of different departments and services provided by G . F Smith, including duplexing, envelopes, and packaging production, as well as the company's 'Make a Book,' 'Make a Frame' and photographic practises

Envelopes

The Hull based paper merchant has a specialist envelope team who produce envelopes both by hand or by machine. The majority of papers in the  G . F Smith Collection can be converted into seven standard envelope styles — DL Wallet, DL Wallet Window, DL Banker, C6, C5, C4 and 155x155mm. Additionally, customers can create their own own hand-made, bespoke envelopes from business card size up to A3. We were informed the envelopes are used by a number of large clients, including the Royal family.

Make a Book

G . F Smith's 'Make a Book' service allows customers to, as the name suggests, have a book made, hand-crafted by a team of skilled binders in Hull, and using the finest materials combined with the latest technology. By using premium quality photographic paper and silver halide printing technology, these books give photographic quality and vivid colour reproduction. Make Book uses Colorplan for the covers and for the endpapers, and you can specify any of 50 colours with a choice of 8 embossings. Additionally, you can personalise your book with foil blocking (available in 7 colours) or debossing on the front cover, back cover or spine. The books are delivered within seven working days of ordering or ten working days if you have personalised your book with foiling or debossing.

Make a Frame

Again, using premium quality photographic paper and silver halide printing technology that gives photographic quality and vivid colour reproduction, G . F Smith's 'Make a Frame' service allows customers to choose from Acrylic and Aluminium Wall Prints or specify one of over fifty Moulding styles with or without Mountboard. Also hand-crafted by a team of skilled framers in Hull, the frames use the finest materials combined with the latest technology. These are delivered within 7 days.

The tour of G . F Smith's premises in Hull was a wonderful opportunity to see how the operation is run, as well as to learn about all of the services they provide - of which there were much more than I had expected. While the tour was a fairly quick walk through of the different areas, it was greatly inspiring to talk to a number of employees, all of whom praised the company and had great pride in what they did there. As a designer very much inspired by print and tactile design, paper is naturally something I hold a keen interest in, and this visit to G . F Smith has only made my passion for paper stronger. I hope to keep this engagement with the paper merchant ongoing as I progress through level 6 and beyond. Steve Taylor supplied his business card at the end of the tour and encouraged this, which was great in regard to developing industry relationships and making contacts.