Berol

Berol Corporation
Formerly called
 Eagle Pencil Company
Subsidiary
Industry Stationery
Founded 1856
(renamed "Berol" in 1969)
Founder Daniel Berolzheimer
Defunct 2010 (2010) [1]
Headquarters Lichfield, England
Products Writing instruments,
art materials
Parent Newell Rubbermaid
Website berol.co.uk

Berol (trade name: Berol by Paper Mate) (styled Be͠rol) is a British brand of stationery products, currently commercialized by Paper Mate. The company, based in Lichfield, England, produced pencils, pens and other items.

Berol is now a brand of imported products, with UK manufacturing closed [2] since Berol's purchase by Sanford L.P., a division of the Newell Companies (now known as Newell Rubbermaid), in 1995.

History

Eagle Pencil Co. ad, c. 1900.

The "Eagle Pencil Company" was founded by Bavarian immigrant Daniel Berolzheimer in 1856 opening a pencil shop in New York City and a factory in Yonkers. In 1894 the company extended its business opening office, warehouse and showrooms in London.[3]

Eagle Pencil also opened a factory in Tottenham, that started operating towards the end of 1907. The outbreak of the World War II in 1939 saw the factory pause pencil manufacture and instead produce secret military equipment. Pencil manufacture recommenced in 1946.

A series of post-war corporate acquisitions meant that the Eagle Pencil name was no longer appropriate. In 1969 the company name was changed to Berol, the owning family’s now-shortened surname.[4] Berol's head office remained at the Tottenham factory until the need for extra production space led to a move to Whetstone, London.

In June 1967 the company opened a purpose built factory on the Hardwick Industrial Estate in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. The company’s head office moved from Whetstone to King's Lynn in 1978.

In 1986, Chairman Kenneth Berol, announced the family's intention to sell the company as there was no sixth generation family successor. In 1987, Berol was acquired by the Empire Pencil Corporation of Tennessee.[4]

In February 1992 the company decided to close the Tottenham factory and moved some production to King's Lynn. 1995 saw the Newell Company acquire the Berol Corporation with Berol being placed in its Sanford division.

2003 saw the King's Lynn factory close with 230 redundancies.[2] Some production was transferred to the former Parker Pen factory in Newhaven, Sussex, but the factory was closed in 2010. From then on, all Berol products are imported.[1]

Products

Berol's product lines include:[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Parker Pen Newhaven closure plan revealed" by Ruth Lumley, The Argus, 16 Jul 2009
  2. 1 2 "Jobs hope after King’s Lynn businessman buys Berol site", Lynn News, 10 Feb 2014
  3. ↑ "Emile Albert Berol, 81, A Pencil Manufacturer", The New York Times Obituaries, 9 Oct 1993
  4. 1 2 Berol History on Berol official site
  5. ↑ Berol Products

External links

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