De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, that produces secure digital and physical protections for goods, trade, and identities in 140 countries. It sells to governments, central banks, and businesses. Its authentication division provides government revenue technology,

brand protection Brand protection is the process and set of actions that a right holder undertakes to prevent third parties from using its intellectual property without permission, as this may cause loss of revenue and, usually more importantly, destroys brand eq ...

, and ID security, such as polycarbonate data pages for passports. Its Currency division designs and produces

banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

, secure

polymer substrate Polymers and plastics known as polymer substrates are used for banknotes and other everyday products. The banknote is more durable than paper, won't become soaked in liquids and is harder to counterfeit, though not impossible. Countries whose whole ...

and banknote security features. This includes

security hologram Security holograms are labels with a hologram printed onto it for sale security reasons. Holograms on security labels are very difficult to forge because they are replicated from a master hologram which requires expensive, specialized and technol ...

security thread A security thread is a security feature of many banknotes to protect against counterfeiting, consisting of a thin ribbon that is threaded through the note's paper. Usually, the ribbon runs vertically, and is "woven" into the paper, so that it at ...

s and security printed products for

central banks A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

and currency issuing authorities. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

. It is the world's largest commercial printer of banknotes.

History

The company was founded by

Thomas de la Rue Thomas de la Rue (24 March 1793 – 7 June 1866) was a printer from Guernsey who founded De La Rue plc, a printing company which is now the world's largest commercial security printer and papermaker. Biography Born on Le Bourg, Forest, Guernsey to ...

, who moved from

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1821 and set up in business as a 'Leghorn' straw hat maker, then as a stationer and printer. In 1831 he secured a

Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...

for his business to produce playing cards. In 1855 it started printing postage stamps and in 1860 banknotes. The company's first banknotes were made for

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. In 1896, the family partnership was converted into a private company. In 1921, the de la Rue family sold their interests. The company was first listed on the

in 1947. Then called ''Thomas De La Rue & Company, Limited'', it changed its name in 1958 to ''The De La Rue Company Limited''. A takeover bid for De La Rue was made by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

in 1968, but this was rejected by the Monopolies commission as being against the public interest. In 1991 the company's name was changed again – this time to De La Rue plc. In 1965 De La Rue established a joint venture with the Italian printer and inventor

Gualtiero Giori Gualtiero "Rino" Giori (1913–1992) was an Italian security printer and inventor who founded the company Giori SA in 1951. Life Giori came from a family of security printers. In 1876, his grandfather had bought a printing company in Milan and h ...

called De La Rue Giori. Based in Switzerland, the company specialized in building banknote printing equipment. The company printed banknotes for the

Central Bank of Iran The Central Bank of Iran (CBI), also known as ''Bank Markazi'', officially the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, بانک مرکزی جمهوری اسلامی ايران, Bank Markazi-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān; SWIFT Code: B ...

during the 1960s. In 1995, the company acquired

Portals Limited Portals is a papermaking business in the United Kingdom that has had two distinct existences as an independent business, from 1711 to 1995, and from 2018 onwards. It has been variously known as Portals Limited, Portals Paper Limited, Portals De L ...

which had been listed on the London stock market since 1904. For almost 300 years Portals had been one of the leading banknote paper manufacturers in the world, having manufactured banknote paper for the Bank of England since 1724. In 1997, De La Rue acquired

Harrison and Sons Harrison and Sons was a major worldwide engraver and printer of postage stamps and banknotes. History The company was established in 1750 by Thomas Harrison in Warwick Lane, London; in 1839 Thomas Richard Harrison entered into partnership with Jo ...

, the stamp and banknote printers based in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

. The factory closed permanently in 2003. In early 2002, De La Rue purchased

Sequoia Voting Systems Sequoia Voting Systems was a California-based company that is one of the largest providers of electronic voting systems in the U.S., having offices in Oakland, Denver and New York City. Some of its major competitors were Premier Election Solutions ( ...

, a

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

based company that was a large provider of

electronic voting Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone ''electronic voting machines'' ( ...

systems in the United States, from Jefferson Smurfit plc for $23 million. Following the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

leak, it was revealed that from 2002 until 2010, De La Rue had secretly contracted New Delhi businessman Somendra Khosla to obtain contracts in exchange for a 15% commission. In 2003, the company acquired the Debden based banknote printing operations of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. In 2003 and 2004 the company supplied banknotes to Iraq. The company was recognised by Hermann Simon as a role model for other small- to medium-sized businesses in his book ''

Hidden Champions Hidden champions are relatively small but highly successful companies that are concealed behind a curtain of inconspicuousness, invisibility, and sometimes secrecy. The term was coined by Hermann Simon. He first used the term as a title of a public ...

''. The Highest Perfection, a history of De La Rue was published in 2011. Written by Peter Pugh for De La Rue, it covered the years 1712–2003. In August 2014, the company announced the appointment of Martin Sutherland (formerly of

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence BAE Systems Digital Intelligence (formerly Detica, then BAE Systems Applied Intelligence) is an international business and technology consulting firm owned by BAE Systems. It specializes in "security and resilience", and in collecting, managing ...

) as chief executive officer. In 2016, the Cash Handling division (Cash Processing Systems) was sold to Privet Capital. In December 2016, the company announced it had purchased the

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Authentication division. In March 2018, the company sold the paper business. De La Rue retained a 10% share in the new business, Portals International Limited. In April 2018, the company decided to appeal against the decision of the British government to manufacture passports in France. It subsequently decided against appealing. In October 2019 the company sold its Identity Solutions business to

HID Global HID Global is an American manufacturer of secure identity products. The company is an independent brand of Assa Abloy, a Swedish door and access control conglomerate. Björn Lidefelt was appointed CEO on 27 January 2020. He succeeded Stefan Wid ...

for £42m. On 26 July 2019, the Serious Fraud Office opened an investigation into De La Rue plc for suspected corruption in

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. They later decided to close the case. In April 2023, it was announced that chairman Kevin Loosemore was stepping down in May 2023 to "draw a line under recent speculation surrounding the leadership of the company". Following the launch of a fast-track search for a replacement, the company appointed Clive Wiley in May 2023. In February 2024, it was announced that the company had been contracted, alongside the

, to design new bank notes carrying King Charles III's portrait.

Operations

Banknotes

De La Rue sells high-security fully finished banknotes, polymer substrate and security features for over 69 national

currencies A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

Security printing and papermaking

De La Rue also produces other secure documents, including Tax stamps.

Corporate affairs

The company's board is chaired by Clive Wiley. Its non-executive board members are Nick Bray, Mark Hoad and Brian Small.

Past products

Playing cards

In 1843, De La Rue's designs for playing cards are the basis for the modern standard design. The playing card business was sold to John Waddington in 1969.

Postage stamps

The company has also printed postage stamps for the United Kingdom and some of its colonies, for Italy and for the Confederate States of America. The Cape of Good Hope triangulars were also printed by De La Rue & Co.

Writing instruments

De La Rue developed the first practical

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkw ...

in 1881. Products were marketed under the "

Onoto Onoto is a town in the eastern Venezuelan States of Venezuela, state of Anzoátegui. This town is the County seat, shire town of the Juan Manuel Cajigal Municipality and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, the municipality has a populatio ...

" brand. Production of fountain pens by De La Rue ceased in Britain in 1958 but continued for a few more years in Australia.

Board games

During the 1930s De La Rue created a number of board games. These included a cricket game, ''Stumpz'', which was produced in a number of different editions, and ''Round The Horn'', a game which re-created the then annual race of grain-laden, square-rigged sailing cargo ships from Australia to London.

Christmas cards

During the First World War, De La Rue made the Christmas Card included in the

Princess Mary Christmas gift box The Princess Mary Christmas gift box was a brass or silver tin containing a number of gifts intended to be distributed to all members of the armed forces of the British Empire on Christmas day 1914, during World War I. Princess Mary Christmas fund ...

Gallery of products produced by De La Rue

File:delarue-king-diamonds.jpg, The

King of Diamonds The king of diamonds is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Diamonds may also refer to: * ''King of Diamonds'' (film), a 1936 Italian comedy film directed by Enrico Guazzoni * ''King of Diamonds'' (TV series), a 1961–62 Ameri ...

from a De La Rue pack c. 1860. File:Cape Triangular Postage Stamp.jpg,

Cape of Good Hope triangular This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Cape Colony, Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, led by the explorer Bartolomeu Dias. Table Bay, for over one hundred ye ...

postage stamp of 1853. File:St. Christopher 1884 1 penny stamp sheet.jpg, A sheet of Stamps for

St. Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively u ...

, 1884. File:Confederate stamp Jefferson Davis 5c 1862 issue.jpg,

Confederate States of America postage stamp The postage stamps and postal system of the Confederate States of America carried the mail of the Confederacy for a brief period in American history. Early in 1861 when South Carolina no longer considered itself part of the Union and demanded tha ...

, 1862 1980s_Malaysia_Ringgit_(De_La_Rue).png,

Ringgit Malaysia The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 ''sen'' (formerly ''cents''). The ringgit is issued ...

Old Banknote RM1, 1986

References

External links

*
History of De La Rue’s playing cards
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20150402120908/http://replaycricket.com/2010/03/14/stumpz/ Article and images of 1930s De La Rue Board Game, Stumpz {{Authority control Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies in the FTSE SmallCap Index Manufacturing companies established in 1821 1821 establishments in England Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Postage stamps of the United Kingdom Banknote printing companies Playing card manufacturers Companies based in Basingstoke British brands British companies established in 1821