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The headquarters of Curtis Fine Papers has come a long way since it became a paper mill back in 1874.

Previous to this, the mill was used to produce fine whisky, not fine paper. What is more, for the first 25 years following its conversion into a paper plant, the Guardbridge mill in Fife had only one papermaking machine.

Today, the mill is one of Scotland’s largest papermaking operations, with an annual capacity of 28,000 tonnes. During the 1980s, the business was bought by US firm James River Fine Papers, but returned to Scottish ownership in 2002 after a management buyout.

Choppy conditions
The company has kept its head up in today’s choppy market conditions by concentrating on its loyal customer base and producing speciality papers for more niche applications, including corporate identity, annual report and accounts, security printing and luxury packaging.

Curtis employs 280 staff and its sales team speaks 13 languages. This has won the Scottish firm various business awards and helped it to build a portfolio of customers in more than 70 countries.

Curtis managing director Keith Chapman says that innovation is one way the firm keeps customers loyal and wins new clients. “We are constantly working on research and development to produce imaginative products that excite and inspire our customers,” he says. “With the firm’s relatively small size, we are also able to offer maximum flexibility in terms of run sizes and product innovation.”

As with many paper firms today, Curtis has placed environmental practises as a priority. It was the first papermaker in the UK to achieve EMAS accreditation, as well as being the first to produce an environmental report, which is updated to give progress reports and set out environmental targets.

Chapman adds that transparency for customers is high on the agenda in terms of proving its commitment to improving environmental impact.

“We have spent more than £4m in the past decade reducing our environmental impact,” Chapman says. “We have our own transport subsidiary, Scotflow, which maximises efficiency by ensuring vehicles only make journeys when fully loaded and any spare capacity is used for general haulage work to maximise profitability and efficiency.”

This year is set to be a busy one for Curtis, with two new products already launched, including Intone, the latest addition to its security paper portfolio. With an internal layer of colour that can be revealed through tearing or by shining light onto the stock, the product is ideal for ticketing. Additional security treatments and special effects are also possible to avoid imitation tickets being produced.

“When it comes to security papers, we have identified the need for more simple checking procedures,” says Chapman. “With our papers, we are striving to create a simple and robust verification procedure, which reduces the need for complex processes at the point of authentication.” He adds that Curtis is monitoring the development of electronic verification.

Anti-bug innovation
Another unique area where the firm has been making advances is anti-microbial paper. This paper
contains an additive that kills bacteria such as MRSA. Within 24 hours, the additive is capable of
killing 99.9% of the bacteria that would normally be transferred onto a piece of paper through touch. On normal paper, bacteria can stay viable within the sheets for many weeks.

This can be used for stationery in places such as hospitals, veterinary and dental practices. It can also be used for publishing books or magazines handled by higher risk groups, such as schools, particularly nursery and primary schools.

Chapman admits that is not an easy time for the paper industry, with spiralling energy and raw material costs hitting all the major manufacturers. “There are always competitive challenges in the industry, and rising costs have hit the paper industry hard. There are only so many increases we can offset before prices have to go up,” says Chapman. “Manufacturers must take advantage of their proximity to the UK’s busy printing market, listen to what people want to buy today and stick with it in the future.”