James Cropper puts specialist papermaking in the spotlight

James Cropper will use London Packaging Week 2026 to premiere the official trailer for The Last Mill Standing, a new documentary exploring the skills, people and manufacturing expertise behind specialist coloured paper production in the UK.

The first public screening will take place at 1pm on 16 September at the company’s stand at ExCeL London, with the full documentary scheduled for release later in the year.

Documentary focuses on manufacturing knowledge

The film explores what could be lost if specialist papermaking skills and long-established manufacturing knowledge disappear from the British industrial landscape.

Rather than concentrating exclusively on machinery, the documentary highlights the people responsible for transforming fibre into specialist papers used by designers, printers and luxury packaging brands around the world.

Last specialist coloured paper mill takes centre stage

James Cropper describes its facility as the UK’s last remaining specialist coloured paper mill. The company has more than 180 years of papermaking heritage and supplies distinctive papers for premium packaging, branding and creative applications.

The documentary provides access to production processes that consumers and even many packaging professionals rarely see, including the expertise required to achieve consistent colour, surface performance and material quality across specialist paper grades.

Paper remains important in premium packaging

Specialist coloured papers continue to play a significant role in luxury packaging, where tactile quality, colour consistency and visual differentiation can influence consumer perceptions of a brand.

These materials are used across applications including folding cartons, rigid boxes, wraps, labels and other premium formats where packaging must combine structural functionality with a strong visual identity.

London Packaging Week becomes launch platform

The trailer will form part of a broader immersive experience on the James Cropper stand. Visitors will also be able to explore the company’s Paper Portal, an interactive feature designed to encourage experimentation with paper and material possibilities.

Another installation, The Colours of London, invites attendees to record a personal colour associated with the city on specially designed postcards, reinforcing the company’s emphasis on colour as both a technical and emotional component of paper design.

Skills become part of packaging resilience

The documentary arrives at a time when European manufacturers are facing rising costs, international competition and pressure to retain specialist production capabilities.

For the packaging industry, preserving technical knowledge can be as important as investing in new machinery. Producing high-performance speciality papers requires experience in fibres, coatings, colour formulation, finishing and process control that can take years to develop.

Heritage and innovation remain connected

James Cropper is positioning the film as a reminder that long-established manufacturing expertise can continue to support modern packaging innovation.

As brands seek increasingly distinctive, lower-impact and technically advanced fibre-based packaging, specialist papermaking capabilities may remain an important part of the supply chain. The Last Mill Standing aims to make that often-hidden industrial expertise more visible to designers, brands and packaging professionals.