Biddles – A Guildford Business for 140 Years Today

Published on: 26 Feb, 2025
Updated on: 27 Feb, 2025

For a business to survive in the same town for 140 years is quite an achievement but this is what stationers Biddles, now in Ward Street only yards from the original shop, has managed to do. It has not all been plain sailing, at times it has been touch and go…

1885 – Where it all began

In 1883, Charles Biddle and his family had moved from Alton, where he worked as a printer. Leonard, Charles’ son, had also gained experience at printing firms in Winchester and Kettering, joining his father in Guildford in 1885.

Charles and Leonard opened Biddle, a printing business, on the corner of Martyr Road and Haydon Place in Guildford, offering products designed for retailers – printed brown bags for grocers, meat tickets for butchers and billheads for shopkeepers.

Charles and Leonard provided these quicker and cheaper than out-of-town printers, and the work soon flooded in. More stationery products were added for both local businesses and households.

In 1894, just nine years after starting the business that carried his name, Charles retired, later passed away in 1905.

Leonard Biddle had three sons, and as they became old enough, they joined him in the business, changing the name to Biddles and Sons, then later Biddles Ltd.

In 1911, as employment rights were changing, Biddles reduced the hours his staff worked. In 1919, hours were further reduced to 48 hours a week, and in the same year, one week’s paid holiday was introduced.

1923 – Building the new shop

Biddles had grown in size, opening new premises in the town centre. Remarkably, all the locations were within 200 yards of the original Martyr Road shop, including two shops in the High Street and a printing works just off Chertsey Street.

The decision was taken in 1923 to bring the business under one roof, combining the print-works and the stationery shop. A suitable site on Martyr Road was purchased, and work on the new building began.

This was no easy task. The building needed a shop on the ground floor, meaning the printing and bookbinding machines needed to be placed on the upper floors. Due to the weight of the machinery, they needed to utilize the relatively new practice of reinforced concrete, which would be substantial enough to support the weight of the presses.

This was successfully completed, and the business remained on this site until 1977.

The factory also played its part in the war effort, with half of the factory being repurposed by the Air Ministry during the Second World War in order to manufacture aircraft components.

In 1935, Leonard retired but remained chairman of Biddles. After ten years of active retirement, he passed away in 1945 at the age of 79. Biddles continued with letterpress equipment until the adoption of the photolitho printing press, still widely used in printing to this day. This was around the same time that the move towards specialization in publishers’ work began.

The company’s growth during the following ten years had been impressive. Printing works were opened in King’s Lynn, and in 1979, Biddles opened a state-of-the-art print works, complete with reprographic unit, on Woodbridge Park.

See Part 2 – From 1987 to today, here

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