The picturesque village of Staveley, situated mid-way between Kendal and Windermere in the Lake District is the home of Kentmere, the photographic paper manufacturer. The manufacture of photographic paper in the area goes back to the beginning of the century when two Windermere chemists began to make black and white emulsions with a view to supplying paper to existing customers for whom they processed films. A company was formed in 1906 to produce paper for commercial outlets, and Kentmere Ltd was born.
Such was the attention to detail that they acquired a carton manufacturer to ensure that they had control of the production of quality packaging for their paper. The packaging division of Kentmere is now a significant part of the company supplying the photographic division, in addition to various companies in other industries, with a range of packaging needs.
The early manufacturing was carried out in an old mill but from the late 1970s to the mid-80s major investment was undertaken and a purpose-built coating plant was constructed. A three shift system of production was introduced and administration moved into the old mill. The modernisation of production at Kentmere was completed in 1989 when the new coating machine became fully operational, controlled by custom designed computer software which ensures that the chilling, drying and hardening of the emulsion is maintained at the required standards.
John Barker, managing director and grandson of one of the founders of Kentmere, is supported in running the company by a small team some who have been with Kentmere for most of their working life. The team includes Shaun Mulvaney, deputy managing director, and Brenda Sykes, the operations director, who has been with the company for 15 years since starting work in production. Colin Sykes is quality control manager and Ian Hewitson coating manager. Norman Bell has been with Kentmere for 23 years and runs the research and development department. The team is completed by Garry Hume, sales and marketing Manager.
Having brought the coating plant up to date, the decision to change the corporate identity of Kentmere was taken about two years ago and significant changes to all aspects of packaging, literature and services were made by the management team. In 1994 ISO 9002 accreditation was achieved and it is Kentmere's aim continually to improve the product, quality control systems and service to the end user.
A mail order service was introduced early in 1996 to ensure photographers can obtain Kentmere products where there is no local outlet. All sizes of paper are available on next-day deliverye and all major credit cards are accepted.
The company also offers colleges and universities a range of lectures covering lith printing and specialised toning techniques.
Garry Hume spent a day giving me a tour which covered the whole operation of the company, from the production of the photographic paper through to the dispatch to the various parts of the world to which the products are sold. Even R & D was not closed to me!
Having recently reviewed Kentmere's Finegrain paper - in which report I was critical of the pronounced curl of unexposed paper and the fact that Kentmere do not provide below the lens filters - I spent some time in discussion with Colin Sykes. In a frank exchange of views and ideas, Colin was able to show me that all such comments are considered and where practical, changes are implemented.
The attention to quality control is impressive, with a log of tests on all paper batches being made when fresh, at two weeks, one month and three months and on up to eight months. Complaints are all logged and investigated and then placed in a history file of that paper. Kentmere keep a graph of all complaints received and it is noticeable that a considerable reduction in number has taken place in recent years.
The coating process is interesting to see but clearly I can not give any inside info on it. Computer technology gives Ian Hewitson every help along the way. In the process of making photographic paper large quantities of water are used, and in the Kentmere operation this is drawn from an artesian well 80 feet below the surface, and next to a small but beautiful river in which salmon are regularly caught.
That this operation takes place in such a protected area as the Lake District is a clear indication as to how Kentmere view their responsibilities to the environment. Where possible, by-products of the production in both packaging and paper making are recycled to further reduce damage to the environment.
The range of papers produced by Kentmere is probably the highest made by any manufacturer - up to 80 different coatings on 43 different papers, when grades are taken into account. This is an impressive list by any standards but it will not end there, for at the present time Kentmere are working on a new generation of variable contrast papers as well as ink jet papers. In addition to this they are continually working on ways to improve their existing range.
Recent additions to the Kentmere product range include their own black and white print developer and fixer to supplement the existing range of chemicals, such as Sepia Toner which has been available for some time. Arguably, the flagships of the Kentmere range are the various Art photographic papers such as Art Classic, and warm-toned Kentona which has a wide range of creative applications.
In my recent review of their Finegrain I said that I felt that Kentmere had come of age in the production of fine-art photographic papers, and having seen the whole operation at first hand I have to say that what I saw supports that view. I have always been critical of products that do not reach the high standards required to compete with the best, as those who have attended my workshops will know. In the past, Kentmere have been on the receiving end of my criticism, but I think those days are over now. They are a small British company with the team and the will to succeed in the world of high quality photographic paper manufacture. They are continually looking at developing new products to satisfy a demanding and hopefully growing market. We all know that any one paper will not do every job required in the production of a fine print. However, we can now look at Kentmere's products, especially the latest in their range, with a view to making prints that have the characteristic glow of the best of the light in the magical English Lake District, the home of Kentmere Photographic Ltd.
- Les McLean
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