Esablished in 1903 Rajar Limited manufactured films and printing papers for the then fledgling photographic market. Two years later the large buildings covering three quaters of an acre were built at the two acre town lane site (shown in the photos).
During the First World War production was doubled with the completion of new buildings and plant at the site. Further capacity was gained for the war effort in 1917 when Rajar Limited acquired another business called Rotary Photographic Company Limited.
In 1921 Rajar merged with Amalgamated Photographic Manufacturerers (APM), and ILFORD Limited purchased Rajar Limited in 1929. During the next 30 years Ilfords Mobberley site began to concentrate on the manufacture of photographic paper.
LEFT: View of the Ilfords old 'Rajar' works buildings on Town Lane.
For more information visit Ilford's website.
All photographs by John Tulley
unless otherwise identified
Copyright (c) 1999 John A. Tulley
The large rolls of paper were transported to the London factory for cutting packing and distribution.
In 1958/9 a large paper finishing and distribution department was built. The whole paper manufacturing process was now at Mobberley and there was a large increase in the workforce.
In 1969 the workforce had grown to 550, when the ILFORD Group was purchased by Ciba-Geigy. During 1981-1983 restructuring of the company occured resulting in the closure of the Essex site and dramatic growth of the Mobberley site. The workforce trebled to 1500.
In March 1989 Ciba-Geigi sold the ILFORD group to International Paper, the worlds largest paper products manufacturer.