James Cropper will put British papermaking skills, manufacturing heritage and material creativity at the center of its presence at London Packaging Week 2026, including the first public screening of the trailer for its upcoming documentary, The Last Mill Standing.

The trailer will premiere at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 16 September, at Stand H24, giving visitors an early look inside what James Cropper describes as the UK’s last remaining specialist coloured paper mill.

The full documentary is scheduled for release later in 2026.

Rather than concentrating only on paper machinery and production technology, the film focuses on the people and specialist knowledge behind coloured papermaking — and asks what could be lost if generations of manufacturing expertise disappear.

Inside the UK’s Last Specialist Coloured Paper Mill

The Last Mill Standing documents the skills involved in transforming fibre into specialist coloured paper used across design, packaging and branding applications.

For James Cropper, the story comes at a particularly relevant moment for UK manufacturing.

Manufacturers are operating amid changing demand, international competition and rising costs. Against this background, maintaining specialist production capabilities depends not only on industrial equipment but also on retaining the knowledge required to operate and develop those processes.

Papermaking expertise can include understanding fibres, colour, formulations, production conditions and finished-paper characteristics.

The documentary therefore positions manufacturing knowledge itself as an industrial asset.

Machines can be replaced or upgraded. Knowledge accumulated through years of production experience can be considerably harder to rebuild once it disappears.

James Cropper’s film uses its coloured paper operations to explore that relationship between people, process and finished material.

Paper Becomes Part of the Exhibition Experience

The documentary will form the starting point for a broader visitor experience on James Cropper’s London Packaging Week stand.

One installation, The Colours of London, takes inspiration from one of the city’s familiar visual landmarks.

Visitors will be invited to identify their own “Colour of London,” write it on a specially designed postcard and place it inside a pillar box incorporated into the exhibition.

The concept connects colour with individual memories and experiences of the city while using a physical paper postcard as the medium.

It also provides a contrast with increasingly digital communication by presenting paper as something tactile that can carry both information and personal expression.

James Cropper Introduces the Paper Portal

Visitors will also be among the first to experience James Cropper’s Paper Portal.

The company has disclosed relatively few details ahead of the exhibition, describing it as an experience intended to encourage visitors to explore paper and generate new ideas.

Together, the Paper Portal, documentary and Colours of London installation move the company’s exhibition strategy beyond a conventional display of paper samples.

Instead, James Cropper is using the stand to connect the manufacturing process with the ways designers and brands eventually interact with the material.

“People experience paper every day, yet very rarely do they get to see the extraordinary expertise behind it,” said Jordan Scott, Head of Marketing at James Cropper.

“We wanted to create more than an exhibition stand. We wanted to create a journey that begins with the people who make the material and ends with the ideas those materials make possible.”

Why Specialist Papermaking Knowledge Matters

The theme behind The Last Mill Standing reflects a wider issue facing mature manufacturing industries.

Specialist production relies on more than physical assets.

Process knowledge, troubleshooting experience, material understanding and skills developed over many years can influence the consistency and capabilities of a manufacturing operation.

This is particularly relevant for specialty materials, where customers may require particular colours, appearances, tactile characteristics or converting performance rather than simply a standardized commodity grade.

For packaging and design markets, these capabilities can become part of the material’s value proposition.

James Cropper is therefore using London Packaging Week not simply to discuss what its paper can do, but to show where that capability comes from and who makes it possible.

Following the documentary trailer premiere, the company will host drinks at its stand and discussions around British manufacturing, material innovation and paper’s continuing role in packaging, branding and design.

With The Last Mill Standing, the central question extends beyond one mill.

As manufacturing industries automate and consolidate, how should companies preserve specialist knowledge that may have taken generations to develop?

For James Cropper, the answer begins by making that knowledge — and the people behind it — visible.

Last Updated on 24/08/2026 by Jota Machinery