180 years of believing materials can do more

Some companies are built to respond. Others are built to imagine. For 180 years, James Cropper has lived by a quiet but powerful belief – that innovation begins not with answers, but with the courage to ask, ‘what if?’

In 1845, nestled in the Cumbrian landscape of the Lake District, the Cropper family acquired a mill and began making paper. Six generations later, from that very same site, we continue to turn that humble material into something remarkable by asking the right questions at the right time.

What if paper could come in colour?
What if waste could be reimagined as a resource?
What if paper could do more than just carry an idea? What if it was the idea?

These questions have led us to some extraordinary places.

From our earliest days, we’ve been defined by a pioneering mindset. Long before we began papermaking, our Burneside site had a rich industrial history processing grain, textiles and leather. Over time, it evolved to meet the changing needs of the world around it. That spirit of adaptation remains central to who we are.

In 1845, the Cropper family acquired the lease to Burneside Mill and began producing paper using one of the most advanced technologies of the time: the Fourdrinier machine, first patented in 1801. Just over a decade later, we became one of the first papermakers in the world to introduce coloured papers, using newly discovered synthetic dyes in 1856. This early embrace of innovation set the tone for everything that followed.

As the world changed, so did we. During the First World War, we supplied specialist paper for the British war effort. In 1978, we partnered with the Royal British Legion to develop the iconic red paper still used today for Remembrance Day poppies. Alongside these milestones, we invested in our local community, building homes in Burneside to house mill workers. Many of these houses still stand.

In 1886, the original mill was tragically destroyed by fire. Rather than marking the end of our story, the fire became a catalyst. Rebuilding began immediately, and by 1902, we had constructed the Potter Fell Reservoir to provide high-pressure water for the mill. This vital infrastructure continues to support our manufacturing processes to this day.

By the 1980s, our ambitions extended beyond traditional papermaking. In 1986, our research into non-cellulose fibres led to the creation of Technical Fibre Products, now James Cropper Advanced Materials. These high-performance nonwovens support sectors ranging from hydrogen and aerospace to medical.

While our roots run deep, they have never held us back. Instead, they have provided a foundation for continuous evolution – creatively, technically, and sustainably.

Today, we serve a global customer base with custom-made papers and advanced materials. Our papers are chosen by luxury brands, fine printers, designers and converters. Our moulded fibre packaging offers a renewable alternative to plastic. And our nonwoven materials are used in everything from aircraft and medical equipment to clean energy systems.

Innovation is not a department at James Cropper; it’s part of the atmosphere. It rises with the morning mist from the River Kent, weaves through the mill, and settles into every sheet we make.

Our mill is still based in Burneside, now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This location is more than a backdrop; it’s a quiet reminder that industry and nature can not only coexist but also support one another. That belief has become central to how we innovate: responsibly, resourcefully, and always with an eye on long-term impact.

Take CupCycling® for example – our world-first facility that recycles used coffee cups on a commercial scale. By separating the plastic lining from the valuable paper fibre, we’ve made it possible to upcycle what was once a waste stream into premium materials used for everything from luxury packaging to stationery.

Or consider FibreBlend Upcycled Technology, our way of bringing new life to office waste, post-industrial offcuts and even worn-out denim. It’s a modern expression of circularity, where creativity meets conscience, and nothing is wasted.

And those first steps we took towards coloured paper? That world first has blossomed into a world-leading colour matching lab containing 2,000 live shades on-site, including 184 blacks and 62 whites. Our moniker ‘the home of colour’ is well-earned, and our colourful story keeps going to this day with game-changing launches like Coloursource.

Coloursource is a range of 50 signature shades of paper material available in nine weights and 36 embossed patterns for use across almost any application. Refined over the course of half a century, Coloursource is more than just our most recent launch, it’s an invitation that brings together decades of colour expertise into one unified brand, offering unmatched vibrancy, durability, and creative potential.

And we’ve placed that all-important ‘u’ in ‘colour’ deliberately, paying tribute to our British heritage while putting ‘you’ at the heart of Coloursource.

These innovations aren’t just impressive engineering feats. They are answers to questions we dared to ask. What if paper could be made from jeans? What if packaging could be both beautiful and biodegradable? What if we could turn the disposable into the desirable?

James Cropper began as a single paper mill. Today, it is a global innovator: a materials company whose impact is felt in industries as varied as luxury retail, aerospace and renewable energy. From handcrafted papers in bespoke colours to substrates for hydrogen electrolysis, our expertise spans sectors, surfaces and sustainable futures.

Colour remains at the heart of who we are. We are widely recognised as the foremost mill in the world in the production of coloured paper – a reputation built on technical mastery and creative depth. Our in-house Colour Lab, unique within the industry, enables us to create, match, and refine shades with extraordinary precision. It sets the industry standard for colour accuracy, combining the trained eyes of colour experts with state-of-the-art technology to improve accuracy and speed when developing new hues.

In a world of mass production, it is a rare, artisanal advantage. We source our collection of dyes and pigments from across the market, ensuring we can find the right combination to meet the tightest production tolerances when working with any substrate. And each paper is extensively tested for colourfastness, rub, and bleed, ensuring the colours remain accurate and vibrant in a real-world environment.

The average human eye contains roughly 126 million photoreceptors, giving it the ability to pinpoint the most minute differences between colours. When looking to ensure consistent colours across product lines, there is simply no substitute for James Cropper’s experience and technical capabilities.

But innovation doesn’t stop at aesthetics. Across Paper & Packaging and Advanced Materials we are actively developing solutions for some of the world’s most pressing challenges, from enabling hydrogen fuel cells and wind power, to reducing weight and emissions in aircraft, cleaning the air we breathe, and accelerating the transition to circular economies we urgently need to build.

We have always been a company that does things first. Not for the sake of being first, but to lead where leadership is needed. And with that comes a responsibility: to take control of our own future. That spirit of self-determination still defines us today.

You are rarely far from a James Cropper product. Sometimes it is visible, in the bold colours of a luxury shopping bag. Sometimes it is invisible, embedded in the vital infrastructure of cleaner technologies. But whether seen or unseen, our work is always underpinned by the same principles: people, passion, and expertise.

So why “what if?” Why do we keep coming back to these two simple words?

Because they contain everything. Hope. Challenge. Potential. What if is how we invite the future in. It’s how we imagine different outcomes, better ways of doing things, products no one else has made, and stories no one else can tell.

What if paper came in colours that stirred emotion? What if packaging could disappear after use? What if recycled meant remarkable?

These are not abstract dreams. They are working realities in the hands of our papermakers, technologists, colourists, designers, engineers and innovators – a team bound by a shared belief that materials can do more.

And they reflect a truth that’s been with us since the beginning: we are not just a manufacturer. We are a partner in possibility. These aren’t sideline innovations. They are part of the same mindset that led a small paper mill in Cumbria to shape some of the world’s most enduring material solutions.

Reflecting on the last 180 years, we’re doing more than marking a milestone. We’re setting our course. That means doubling down on what matters: deepening our relationships with customers, scaling our best innovations, expanding into adjacent markets, and building a stronger, more agile business for the decades ahead.

Our Paper & Packaging division is focused on sustainable profitability, operational excellence and continued innovation in premium and technical grades. Meanwhile, our Advanced Materials division is poised for growth, serving a dynamic array of high-performance markets, from hydrogen and advanced air mobility to aerospace and medical.

We’re proud of where we’ve come from. But we’re even more excited about where we’re going.

Because no matter how much has changed, the most important thing has not: the question. The one that sits quietly at the centre of everything we do.

What if?

We’ve been asking it for 180 years. And we’re just getting started.