Bradbury Wilkinson and Company

The original company was established in the 1850s by Henry Bradbury and begin printing banknotes in 1856.[1] Bradbury then died in 1860.[1] In 1873–74, the firm built an imposing six-storey workshop, for engraving printing plates, in Holborn, London at 25 and 27 Farringdon Road, which is now a Grade II-listed building.

The company printed the first series of the Imperial Bank of Persia banknotes that were issued in 1890.[2]

In 1903, the company was acquired by the American Bank Note Company. In 1917, it moved to New Malden in Surrey still operating as Bradbury-Wilkinson as a wholly owned subsidiary of ABNC.

Seychelles 50 rupee banknote circa 1971 featuring Queen Elizabeth II and the hidden word “sex” to the right.[3]

In 1983, Bradbury Wilkinson created a form of polymer banknote using Du Pont‘s Tyvek material; this was marketed as Bradvek and used to print 1-pound banknotes for the Isle of Man. In 1986 it was acquired by De La Rue. The site is now occupied by the Shannon Corner Tesco supermarket. The last Bradbury-Wilkinson plant was shut down by De La Rue in 1990.

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