Clays (company)
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Printing |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Books |
Number of employees | 790 (2021) |
| Parent | Elcograf S.p.A. |
| Website | clays |
Clays is a British printing company based in Bungay, Suffolk.
History
[edit]The origin of the company begins in the nineteenth century, when Richard Clay (1789-1877) first managed and then, in 1827, became the owner of Burton & Briggs, a London printer. Clay retired in 1868, and his sons set up a new partnership - R Clay, Sons & Taylor - that went on to acquire Childs & Son, a printer in Bungay, in 1876. Previously a general printer, after the First World War, the company specialised more in book printing. The company floated on the London stock exchange in 1956 and joined the St Ives Group in 1985.[1] In 2018, Italian printers Elcograf paid £23.8 million to acquire Clays from the St Ives Group.[2][3][4]
Current operations
[edit]The company printed some 167 million books in 2024.[5] The Bungay printworks was featured in "Hardback Books", an episode of the BBC television documentary series Inside the Factory in January 2025.[6] In February 2025, Clays announced the acquisition of TJ Books, a printer based in Padstow.[7] In 2021, the company employed 790 people.[8]
Notable authors and works
[edit]Clays has printed:
- The Harry Potter books.[4] Even though these were produced under strict security conditions, in 2003 a Clays employee managed to steal some chapters of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and offered them to The Sun.[2][9]
- Michael Wolff's insider view of Donald Trump's first administration, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.[2]
- Andy Shepherd's The Boy Who Grew Dragons series.[10]
- A scratch and sniff edition of Roald Dahl's The Twits.[11]
- David Jason's autobiography My Life and Helen Fielding's Mad About the Boy, (one of the novels in the Bridget Jones series), pages of which were accidentally mixed up in 2013.[12][13]
- Works by Tom Clancy, Terry Pratchett, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Stephen Fry, and Philip Pullman.[2]
- Penguin Clothbound Classics[5]
References
[edit]- ^ "Collections | Clays Limited of Bungay, Printers". suffolkarchives.co.uk. Suffolk Archives. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d Faulkner, Doug (16 May 2018). "Takeover marks a new chapter for printer amid a changing industry". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ Cowdery, Katherine (1 May 2018). "Clays sold to Italian printers Elcograf". The Bookseller. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ a b "Harry Potter book printers sold for £23.8m". BBC News. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ a b Campbell, Guy (28 January 2025). "Bungay book printers to feature in episode of Inside the Factory". BBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "BBC One - Inside the Factory, Series 9, Hardback Books". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ Francis, Jo (27 February 2025). "Clays steps in with rescue deal for TJ Books". Printweek. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "Gender Pay Gap Report 2021/22" (PDF). clays.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "Man admits stealing Potter book". BBC News. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ Shepherd, Andy (4 January 2018). The Boy Who Grew Dragons book binding @ Clays. Bungay: YouTube. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "Roald Dahl's The Twits: How do you make a book that smells?". The Guardian. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ Francis, Jo (11 October 2013). "Clays feeling v red faced and like a right Rodney over Bridget Jones mix-up". Printweek. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "Misprint swaps Bridget Jones and David Jason book text". BBC News. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- Moran, James (1978). Clays of Bungay. Bungay: Richard Clay & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9506104-0-5.
External links
[edit]52°27′28″N 1°25′55″E / 52.4577306°N 1.4320012°E
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