The Story of The Stamford Notebook Company officially started in October 2013 when two businessmen and notebook fanatics from Stamford in Lincolnshire decided to make what they thought was the perfect handbound notebook. Based on their principle of ‘beautifully simple and perfectly functional’ a range of colours and textures of cover material was carefully chosen from bookbinding cloth suppliers.
The off white wove paper was sourced from the Tullis Russell mill in Scotland, one of two paper mills left in the UK, selected because it works well, even with a fountain pen. The spine design was created so that the notebooks open as flat as possible to make writing or sketching a pleasure. The boards used in the cover are the right thickness to be hard-back but have some flex. On 17th November 2013, with a stock of 100 notebooks Paul Sloggett and Hugo Spiegl invested £25 in a 6 ft by 3ft table at Stamford Quality Market, Stamford Arts Centre, to see what people thought. Between 10am and 3pm the team had sold over half of their stock. More importantly the enthusiasm for their notebooks was clear, at least locally. More than one person said they were a ‘sucker for quality notebooks’. On top of that the team took many orders for notebooks with personalised initials, almost all of them as Christmas gifts, packaged in the signature slip cases the team had designed. On the same Sunday a small order of 15 notebooks was delivered to Stamford retailer, Paradise Found, on St Mary’s Street. Within a week they had sold out and ended up placing larger orders every week in the run up to Christmas. Selling over 100 in all. A similar story happened with, Reba Boutique, in Peterborough, sadly now closed due to pressures on independent retailers from the high street and out of town chains. Jackie Seago, owner of Paradise Found, said ‘We not only love Stamford Notebooks ourselves but they have been a tremendous asset to our shop, bringing in lots of new customers’. Co-founder Paul Sloggett said ‘We immediately knew that local people loved Stamford Notebooks, what we didn’t know at the time was if people further afield would feel the same’. He went on to say ‘We knew there was a trend in the UK for buying authentic, quality British made products and a resurgence of interest in fine stationery and people seemed to agree’. ‘It’s been hard work, lot’s of learning and we have sold thousands. However, we feel like we have only just started to introduce Stamford Notebooks to retailers and stationery lovers’. Hugo and Paul built a small e-commerce website over a weekend with the facility to add embossed personalised initials on the cover in a variety of colours. Orders locally were brisk and with the help of Facebook and Twitter word spread. By mid January orders were coming in from as far afield as London, Aberdeen, Yeovil, Cheshire, Breukelen (Netherlands) and Mt Pleasant (Australia). Local magazine, Active, featured the notebooks, which created a flurry of online orders and visits to the workshop to buy. Local businesses ordered bespoke notebooks with their logo and two local designers ordered specially made notebooks to their own designs. Hugo said ‘Our confidence grew so we felt we could take this further, there were mixed views from friends and family but we were determined to press on’. ‘We were partly inspired by the success story of Julie Deane, founder of The Cambridge Satchel Company and a quote from a friend of ours – ‘if not you then who, if not now then when’. The story of Stamford Notebooks actually stretches back to the late 1950’s when Hugo’s father Peter came to Stamford and established family print firm Spiegl Press. The business soon became specialists in supplying the UK’s auction houses and livestock markets with lot numbers, bidding paddles and stationery. Over the year’s it expanded into all types of print and book binding with a specialty in high quality short run work including local books, quality business cards and wedding stationery. Hugo took over the family firm in 2005 when his father semi-retired, though Peter, a true gentleman and now 85 years old, still spends half days in the works. Of course with digital printing revolution Hugo bought in new machinery in order to compete but his heart remains in the higher quality and bespoke part of the business. One thing Hugo held onto was all the old machinery. The museum like collection includes three letterpress platens dating back to the 1940s, two Original Hiedelberg printing presses from the 1950s, a 1948 book sewing machine, various book presses and racks of original lead letterpress type. All now play a role in the binding of Stamford Notebooks. Hugo says ‘There were times when I was tempted to scrap the old machines and replace them with new ones. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. There is nothing quite like crafting a fine print job or binding books on machines that make a proper rattle’. ‘The mainstream print industry is hugely competitive and many firms have gone out of business as new digital printers have been started up. Ironically it’s thanks to this old machinery, our specialist hand-working skills and the returning interest in quality that we are still here today’. The letterpress type is in fact the inspiration behind the Stamford Notebooks logo. Paul says ‘The name itself was obvious, simply stating what we do and where we do it from’. Stamford is a fine Georgian limestone town built around the woollen, cloth and pottery industry and coaching in 18th and 19th centuries. John Betjeman described Stamford as ‘England’s most attractive town’ and it was the setting for the Middlemarch series. ‘Most of the lead type at Spiegl Press is Times Roman so it was only natural to choose that for our logo’. The story is taking a new beginning. Local businesswoman Rachael Parkin who owned Reba Boutique and still runs Balagan Jewellery in Peterborough has been a big supporter and mentor for Stamford Notebooks. Her advice was to try exhibiting at the prestigious Top Draw retail event at Earls Court, attended by around 17,000 retail buyers. With just a week to prepare after building up the courage to book a stand Paul and Hugo packed their expanded range of 60 colours and textures of notebook and a hurriedly assembled display into the back of a car and headed for London. Over 3 days, from 12 to 14 January they spoke to over 60 retailers and took orders from all over. Stock is being made for Roullier White, Lali Shop, Blacks of Dorking and Triangle in London, The Pinfold in Hexham, Broughton Crafts in Stockbridge and even Laywine’s in Toronto Canada. Also orders from The Horniman Museum and enquiries from stately homes to sell in their shops. Enquiries have continued to come in since the event and samples are being made for prestigious brands wanting corporate branded notebooks with thier logo. Lifestyle blogger Essie Button visited the Stamford Notebook stand at Top Drawer and fell in love with the Cream Linen notebook. On 17th January she posted a video blog on You Tube featuring Stamford Notebooks which has now had over 71,000 views. Paul says ‘There was a sudden surge of views on our little website from hundreds of views a day to thousands, from all over the world, we tracked it back to Essies video. Since then our page views each day has steadily increased’. The Stamford Notebook stand was also chosen by Show Review UK magazine as a ‘Best Selected Exhibitor’. One of 24 out of a total of some 800 exhibitors in total. Inspired by this success the team decided to exhibit at the Spring Fair retail event, filling all 20 halls of the NEC in Birmingham and the largest event in Britain. The team took their largest order to date from Spiral in Tokyo and met over 60 retailers including small boutique gift shops and well-known retail chains. There has also been a huge interest from retailers, designers and visitor attractions in customising, personalising and making bespoke notebooks to their own design. Local designer Caroline Lea ordered a range before Christmas to sell on her Design Mould website and sold out. Dulwich based gift shop and perfumery, Roulier White, are just about to receive samples of The Perfume Lovers special edition notebook with their logo. Paul says ‘We are very proud that people like what we make so much. We couldn’t have imagined all this a few months when we launched at the Christmas market’. ‘It’s fantastic to be exporting already, not just our notebooks but spreading the word about Stamford too’. Export is an area the team are actively pursuing. They were invited to attend the Spring Fair by UK Trade and Industry, the government body that promotes export. Hugo says ‘We made some amazing contacts at UKTI and already have a meeting scheduled with their local representative to start developing an export plan’. ‘Most notebooks are imported from the Far East and we are really keen to prove that British quality has a place in the UK and abroad’. The team have successfully diversified their business using unique skills and capabilities. The 5,000 sq ft workshop is already being re-organised to satisfy growing demand and staff are being recruited.
