Around 500 years ago an enormous deposit of graphite was discovered in Cumberland. The locals cut it down into sticks and used it to mark sheep--creating the very first pencils. Today the Lake District’s Cumberland Pencil Company makes a million pencils every week and sells them all over the world.
Simon Wells, from Lancashire, is the general manager of the Cumberland Pencil Company. He enthuses about the local history: “The whole history of pencil making started in the Lake District. It’s fascinating that it goes back as far as the 1500s.” While the Cumberland Pencil Company isn’t quite that old, it still has an impressive lineage: “Our first factory, to which you can trace our roots, was opened in 1832.”
Although the pencil industry flourished in the area, by the 20th century only one factory remained: “At one stage there were four pencil factories in the Keswick area. The last of those closed in 1950, and we’re now the only pencil manufacturer in the UK.”
“Good old-fashioned Northern nous”
The graphite deposit is now exhausted, but the Cumberland Pencil Company has remained in the Lake District using imported graphite: “We have a very loyal, long-serving workforce--our average length of service is 22 years.” Simon praises the “good old-fashioned Northern nous” of his 120 employees, and says “they are enormously proud of what they do.” A Northerner himself, Simon was grateful for the opportunity to “come back home” when he took on the general manager role.
By keeping on skilled local workers, the Cumberland Pencil Company has maintained its legacy and continues to produce the high-quality products that its brands, such as Derwent and Lakeland, are known for. But in order to survive where others faded, the Cumberland Pencil Company has also had to innovate. “We’ve always adapted to change,” says Simon, “embracing new manufacturing techniques and ways of reaching customers.”
Part of this adaptation has been to take their business online: “We started selling on Amazon.co.uk about 3 years ago, and we’ve seen some very significant growth in online sales. We’ve been able to reach people who didn’t have ready accessibility to our products.” says Simon. This access to Amazon customers has helped build Derwent’s brand recognition, and it means that many more shoppers are now able to buy the traditional pencil products they fondly remember from school.
Sketching a bright future
Simon describes Amazon’s relationship with the Cumberland Pencil Company as a “perfect synergy”, bringing together an old business and a new one. “The real benefit has been bringing a fantastic selection of high-quality products in front of a much wider audience.”
Simon is also excited about the future of the Cumberland Pencil Company, which recently launched its products on Amazon.fr, Amazon.de and Amazon.ca, as well as selling nearly 300 products on Amazon.com. “I personally see selling online as absolutely integral to our future,” he says. “We are now in 82 countries, and our target is to reach 120 within a couple of years. We want to be a truly global business, and we can only do that with the advantages you get from companies like Amazon.”
The Cumberland Pencil Company’s Derwent brand now has a large following on social media platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest. New products such as the Line Maker and Line Painter are increasingly popular with modern graphic artists. With these innovations and booming online sales, it seems this traditional UK pencil company is well on its way to another 200 years of history.
