History
Journey through time with us
1917
Established in 1917 in Kingston Upon Hull by Herbert Bland Selby, later to be joined by his business partner G. E. Twidale, we originally focused on importing Swedish board to make plain rigid boxes. Local people would be employed to fold and wire stitch cartons in their own homes.
1920
In the late 1920’s our original York Street premises were destroyed by fire. Our buildings were quickly rebuilt and thanks to the dedication of the employees the company was able to continue trading throughout.
1932
In 1932 Hull Premier Printing Company was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary to Kingston Carton Company. This acquisition allowed us to manufacture printed cartons as well as plain cartons.
1940
During the early 1940’s our premises were once again subjected to damage as a result of World War II. Nevertheless we continued to manufacture cartons for our customers and the original site still stands today as part of our modernised finished goods warehouse.
1953
In 1953 we expanded in to larger premises which adjoined our existing buildings. A new office block and design studio were constructed to help support the growth we made within the carton sector.
1962
1962 saw Edgar Owen Selby succeed his father as Chariman of the company. The remit was clear; continue to focus on quality of product and service that had seen the company progress over the previous 45 years.
1987
David West Wilson (Great grandson of founder H. B. Selby) and Arend Buitendam are appointed as Managing Directors to run the commercial and manufacturing sides of the business respectively.
1990
To accommodate an increase in demand a £1m investment was made in new machinery including a four-colour Roland Rekord printing press.
2006
After seeing demand continue to increase, extra capital investment was made available for the purchase of a new Man Roland 700 series Direct Drive printing press. New warehousing was also acquired, taking the overall premises to in excess of four acres. Total investment in 2006 exceeded £2m.
2017
On 12th March 2017 we celebrated 100 years of being a private limited company, still under the control of members of the original family. This was the same year that Kingston upon Hull celebrated being the City of Culture.
2020
We expanded the Kingston Carton logistics network, increasing our dedicated Mercedes-Benz HGV fleet to 6 vehicles.
