Basildon Bond, who knew?

Basildon Bond is one of those brands which can be taken for granted by newsagents. I certainly have. While we have some of the range on our shelves – not enough – it is not treated with the respect it deserves. We don’t feature it in any way and I suspect that if we did we could achieve some sales growth. I suspect this is a brand newsagents could embrace without much competition.

While researching the brand I came across some interesting history at the Basildon Bond website:

The Basildon Bond brand was developed in 1911 by Millington and Sons, a London-based stationery manufacturer. The brand became the property of John Dickinson Stationery when Millingtons was acquired in 1918.

In reality, the brand name was arrived at purely by chance. In the summer of 1911, Millington‘s was considering the introduction of a new rag writing paper, and some of the directors of the company were staying at a country house in a little village in the Thames Valley in Berkshire. One of the matters arising was a name for this new paper brand. The directors decided to take the name from the house in which they were staying, Basildon Park. Therefore, it has no link with the more famous Basildon in Essex.

The website is a wealth of information and resources including an excellent link on the art of letter writing. It’s this information which adds value to the brand. We’re certainly looking at how we can use these resources to better promote the brand and increase our sales.