Archivist was founded in 1994 by Sarah and William Allardice to offer the highest quality Letterpress printed cards and stationery
Our Story
Archivist is run by husband and wife duo William and Sarah, but over the last 20 years we have slowly welcomed some other brave souls into the mix. With guest appearances by our daughter Madeleine, and the very brave Katie (the first employee not to be a member of the family) to the newest additions at our Letterpress printers. We all share the conviction that gift giving is a joy, and that the world is a bit brighter with a mix of beautiful things and a touch of William’s wit.
Archivist was founded in 1998, (blimey that means that we’ve been anxiously worrying about whether we’ll have a good idea tomorrow for a very long time!). As the name might suggest; the archives of the Natural History Museum is where we first began. Although the archives have changed the enthusiasm for hunting for images has not gone. Collaborating with artists all over the world, we have created the finest range of British Letterpress Cards, Prints and lest we forget our luxury matches.
Ink and Paper have always been central ingredients to the business and now that we are the proud owners of Britain’s largest dedicated Letterpress printing facility, we have the wherewithal to take our famous quality and innovation to even higher levels. You, our customers are fabulously sophisticated and are rightly demanding of not only quality but integrity in manufacture and we are with you on this exciting journey where ‘unfettered consumerism’ is replaced by ‘conscious giving’.
Whether you have met us at trade shows (and been blinded by William’s suits) or just got to know us through our products. We hope you have got some joy out of our collections, in this very mad world.
Awards and Accreditations
After nearly 30 years of endeavour (and fun) we are incredibly proud we are the recipients of the inaugural King’s Award for Export achievement, received in 2023.
Spread over three locations, with an office in Chipping Norton, a thriving letterpress studio and workshop in Wellingborough and a distribution centre near Wrexham, the Archivist team has become a key partner to a number of discerning retailers not only on the British High Street but across the globe.
In spite of the hiccups caused by both the pandemic and Brexit, Archivist’s stationery along with their highly collectable matchboxes have proved once again that perhaps Britain’s greatest export is its slightly off the wall humour. To that end an Archivist product always tries to harness a little bit of the spirit of Monty Python and with now over 500 active accounts in both Europe and the USA it is proof that we have found others to laugh and smile with us!
Carrying on from this we are now SMETA audited and a member of SEDEX. For more information click here: ETI Base Code & Our Ethical Statement & Policy.
