Abbey Bookbinding started in business in 1976 by Roger and Pam Cottrell. After both Completing a six year apprenticeship in bookbinding (Roger) and Table Hand (Pam) at Qualitex Printers in Cardiff, they discovered the demand for a commercial service in the binding of University thesis.
The potential growth of a University capital city became evident, with the demand for thesis binding increasing, Roger and Pam realised the business opportunity and concentrated in this line of work. As the demand for binding work increased, and new Universities opening, the business expanded to a small commercial property in the Cathays area, close to Cardiff University students, enabling them to employ one member of staff.
As a fully qualified bookbinder Roger expanded the company services to cover all aspects of general bookbinding ranging from the production of hospital registers to binding complex reports and documents. The business was then to expand into the print market, increasing workloads, turnover and the ability to employ more staff. Abbey Bookbinding is now a family run business and Roger and Pam’s eldest son, Darren joined the company in 1990 and is head of sales and all major binding work and projects. Their daughter, Claire works part time in Administration and Marketing. David their youngest son helps out from time to time at busy periods.
David Sutcliffe joined the company in 2002 and works in bookbinding. Stephen Franks joined the Company in 2003 and mainly works in Print Finishing and Production. The most recent member of the team is Lex Cole. He is training at our binding department. Roger Cottrell (Partner) is responsible for all Print and Reprograhics and Pam (Partner) is head of administration and accounts.
The company now offers a complete service of all bookbinding and Printing services to the Public, Private and Trade sectors, covering all areas of the UK. Abbey Bookbinding are now located at a small factory unit at Gabalfa Workshops with a team of six people working full-time.