Export prowess earns publisher honour in inaugural King’s Award For Enterprise
Publisher Archivist has been honoured as one of the first recipients of the King’s Awards For Enterprise for export trade.
Having made an impression in the greeting card industry for almost 30 years, letterpress specialist, Archivist now has the royal seal of approval having received the country’s most prestigious business awards that have been renamed from the Queen’s Award following King Charles III’s accession to the throne.
“It is with great pleasure that we can share the happy news,” Archivist owners William and Sarah Allardice said. “Some companies get there quicker, Fever Tree for example, but Archivist has made it! After nearly 30 years of endeavour and fun we are incredibly proud to announce we are the recipients of the inaugural King’s Award For Export Achievement in 2023.”
Spread over three locations, the company now has its office in Chipping Norton, thriving letterpress studio and workshop in Wellingborough, and distribution centre near Wrexham.
William explained that, despite the hiccups caused by the pandemic and Brexit, Archivist’s greeting cards and stationery, along with its collectable matchboxes – including the latest and most appropriate Long Live The King design complete with red, white, and blue match heads – have proved once again that perhaps Britain’s greatest export is its slightly off-the-wall humour.
William added: “To that end, an Archivist product always tries to harness a little bit of the spirit of Monty Python and, with over 500 active accounts in both Europe and the USA, it’s proof that we have found others to laugh and smile with us.
“Let’s hope that we can continue to keep making a good impression!”
William, Sarah and Archivist feature in the book recently published by Alan Harnik, founder of Notes & Queries. In volume one of Counting Cards: Confessions Of A Card Shark, in the section where Alan pays tribute to some of the individuals and companies that have played a special part in N&Q’s evolution are two pages dedicated to the King’s Award winners.
Alan first met William when he was working for J Arthur Dixon, and stayed friends after Archivist was set up in 1994.
Alan writes about a “watershed” moment when, many years ago, William confided to him: “You know, I’m thinking of packing it in.” Alan mentioned the saying he’d just read, that’s attributed to Winston Churchill: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
The admired US distributor also shared some sage advice he’d been given at a meeting of ceos where the speaker said: “Most companies quit just before they’re about to make it. If the company had hung in another day, another week, another month, even three months or a year, they could have been really successful.”
Alan urged William not to give up, telling him: “I think it would be a big mistake if you left this industry. These cards are spectacular. You have a good company here, and we will stand by and support you.”
As Archivist’s recent award testifies, William and Sarah did not give up and instead have gone on to grow Archivist to the award-winning company it is today.
