| Administrative History | The Donside Paper Company was formed by Sir John Leng of Kinbrae, newspaper proprietor, and James Patullo, solicitor on 11 July 1893. It was registered at 1 Bank Street, Dundee (none of the initial shareholders were from Aberdeen) and purchased the mill, machinery and leases of Gordon's Mills Paper Company. The mill was initially managed by Charles Patullo, a papermaker from Dundee, and initially operated one machine producing newsprint.
It became a public company in 1900. Frederick Becker became chairman. Two new machines purchased c. 1914 expanding newsprint production. After the First Word War Major W. Geoffrey Moore, Becker's son in law, joined the Company and became Managing Director. The post war slump in the 1920s affected the company badly. By 1927 the Inveresk Paper Company (the largest paper producer in Scotland, which owned seven mills in the central belt) owned nearly 80% of the company's equity.
In the 1940s it became necessary to switch production to a higher quality grade of paper, which required a programme of capital expenditure. New coated papers - Don Art and Thistlecote - were produced. Production of higher grade paper required higher production standards and quality control measures. A new department was formed to cut, inspect, wrap and prepare reams for delivery. This was financed by the Inveresk Group, and in 1959 the Company converted back to a private company, with Inveresk as the only shareholder. Production of newsprint ceased in 1955.
In 1964 Donside chosen by the Inveresk Group as the site for housing new blade coaters to increase production and quality, requiring a large investment in new machinery including the blade coating machine "Highland Chief". The new site was officially opened in 15 Sept 1967 by Princess Alexandra. The investment did not prove profitable and Donside was sold by Inveresk to a consortium of Bowater Corporation and Reed International in February 1969.
Reed and Bowater effectively operated Donside as an overflow facility for their own coating mills at Sittingbourne and Gravesend, and Donside did not have a sales force, relying on Reed and Bowater to generate orders. Each partner had equal representation on the Donside Board and Donside remained a private company with the partners as equal shareholders. In the 1970s the mill produced two new grades under the Consort brand name Consort Label and Consort Royal.
In 1977 Reed sold its half share to Bowaters. The mill expanded into the art paper market in the 1980s. In 1986 there was a management buyout in Bowater, with the new company named UK Paper. Donside was then the subject of its own management buy out in 1997. The company went into receivership in 2000, and the site ultimately closed in 2001. |