250th Anniversary Book
for Bradfords Building Supplies
One of the oldest family-owned firms in the UK is Bradfords Building Supplies, and they wanted to mark their 250th anniversary with something special.
They commissioned a bespoke book to celebrate their extraordinary longevity and history with customers and communities across the south west and midlands.
But this was no bog-standard timeline: we told their story through their philosophy and values, threaded together with memories from their employees, customers, and the Bradfords family, past and present.
We tasked Annie and the team at per stellas to set the bar for corporate history books. Challenged to create a book which would connect with whoever picked it up, Annie's ability to turn what was a testing and ground-breaking brief into a beautiful publication has been nothing short of remarkable. Fastidious and exhaustive in their pursuit of the facts, and moreso the nuggets of information and stories which really brought Bradfords' heritage to life was amplified by the team's combined experience in bringing it all together into a volume that flows and absolutely captures the enduring character of our business. Bradfords 250th book is a work of art, and I cannot recommend per stellas highly enough. Thank you so much. You have done our history proud.
We dug into their library of artefacts, dating back centuries, and spoke to their contacts right across their community. But the team went much deeper. We scoured online records, read hundreds of British newspaper articles and adverts, hunted through attics with old records and joined local history and enthusiast groups online.
We learnt a lot of about Welsh coal, railways, steam wagons, importing timber in the 18th century, navigating the waterways, farming withies (willows) on the Somerset Levels, acquisitions and mergers, modern transport logistics, and sustainable building materials for the future.
Our photojournalist spent days on the road capturing artefacts, places, people, and lots of big yellow delivery trucks.
This was a 12-month commission for a 240-page hardback, drawing upon the publishing, journalism and artistic skills of our professionals across design, research, writing, copy editing, photography, and layout - all the way to the printers in West Wales.
Making the artwork for the Book Cover
