Queen Opens Factory

The Cumberland Pencil Company has been manufacturing pencils in Cumbria for Over 175 years and has just relocated to a new factory at Lillyhall Business Park, Workington. On June 5th we were honoured to receive Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, who officially opened our new premises.

The Cumberland Pencil Company has been manufacturing pencils in Cumbria for Over 175 years and has just relocated to a new factory at Lillyhall Business Park, Workington. On June 5th we were honoured to receive Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, who officially opened our new premises.

On arriving at the factory the Royal Party were received by David Sharrock, General Manager and taken on a tour of the factory floor meeting the production team, staff and senior managers, including Peter Munk, President of ACCO Brands Europe, The Cumberland Pencil Company’s parent company.

At the end of the tour, The Queen had the opportunity to admire the work of pencil artists Linda Stevens and David Cook who use Derwent pencils. She was then invited to unveil a plaque to commemorate the official opening of the new premises and to sign the visitors’ book. Mr Sharrock re-united The Queen with the chair she sat on to sign the visitors’ book at Carnegie Hall, Workington 30 years ago; to the amusement of the audience The Queen gave the chair a wry look and asked if it was safe to sit on.

Finally, as a memento of their visit The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were each presented with a wooden box hand crafted from English Oak and containing 24 of the last pencils made in our Keswick factory. The Duke commented ‘They will see us out!’ Following the Royal Party’s departure, The Cumberland Pencil Company staff and guests enjoyed a buffet lunch of local Cumbrian fayre before the guests enjoyed a tour of the new factory.

Speaking after the visit David Sharrock said ‘It was a great honour for us to welcome The Queen and The Duke to our new home. Our staff were delighted to see them and to chat about their work’.