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The Papershed brand, which was originally developed by Kath Russon, is
distributed by the team at Fibrecrafts.
Most of the products from the Papershed are hand crafted
in some way; we either source from fellow artisans worldwide,
as in the case of many of the papers we sell, or we buy raw
fibres, for example, and dye them ourselves in small batches.
As a customer, you therefore, seldom get a product that has
seen a machine, and in many cases, contributes directly to a
rural third world economy. We believe in paying a fair price
to our suppliers and understand, from experience, the dignity
of reward for labour. We hope our products bring you as much
pleasure in their use as we derive from their making!
So, a little about the history of the Fibrecrafts
team and business which is based at Peasmarsh near Guildford.
Fibrecrafts
was set up in 1982, by Anna Bowers, to supply hand spinners
and dyers with the hard to find materials and equipment. She
set the standard of only supplying the best from manufacturers
around the world, and ensuring that orders are filled and sent
out the same day they are received. Over the next few years
we added weaving, knitting, felt and paper making materials
of the same high standard. The business passed to her husband's
management on her death in 1994. In 1999 we acquired the business
of George Weil & Sons Ltd. This company was set up in 1895
to supply the fur trade with silk linings. In more recent years
they had concentrated on supplying silk painters and fabric
printers with their materials. George
Weil & Sons Ltd is now the trade operation for
Fibrecrafts.
In 2004 we added the Papershed's unique range.
The business now sends the mail order catalogue to over 10,000
customers a year all over the world.
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 Jo
runs the sales department and looks after all the picking,
packing and dispatch of your orders. Our handwriting and
the products ordered are often a big problem to Jo. However
she has been working here for long enough to find the
unfindable, pack the unpackable and post to unreadable
addresses with speed and success.
Jo has two adult children and a mad boxer
called Max and spends much of her free time looking after
her stock of Koi Carp with her husband. She enjoys travelling
and tries to include as many well earned holidays into
her busy year as possible. |
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 Julie
works very closely with Jo and the rest of the team as
a vital first point of contact for our customers, taking
responsibility for the processing of telephone and online
orders. If you do telephone us, it is quite likely to
be Julie who answers.
She is an extremely busy mother of four,
having seen two of them accepted by Universities, one
traveling and working abroad and the youngest completing
her final year at middle school. She is an avid listener
of rock music and when she has spare time (!), enjoys
reading. |
|  Susan
is responsible for purchasing the whole range of goods
and books stocked. Her negotiating and organising skills
help us to achieve our target of fulfilling over 95% of
orders with items from stock. She has a wide knowledge
of fibres and yarns and hand looms.
In her free time Susan enjoys spinning and
knitting. She is an adventurous cook and appreciates a
glass of wine. She is learning elementary Spanish, using
this as an excuse for travelling to unknown parts of Spain. |
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 Sharon
is the youngest member of the team and works
full-time for us, pre-packaging, checking stock in and
putting it away.
She attended Godalming College and has an
A level in Textiles as well as AS levels in Photography
and Media. She has a hectic social life which she enjoys
with her fiance and is a talented jewellery designer and
experimental textile artist. |
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 Dave
works in the packing room for us, wrapping your parcels
and getting the post ready for Royal Mail. He is the newest
and often the cheeriest member of the team!
When he is not at work, he likes to spend
time with his partner. He also loves gardening, is a motorcycle
enthusiast and has a keen interest in steam railways. |
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 Ruth
is responsible for keeping the accounts, paying the bills
and chasing up the more dilatory of our customers. Whilst
the range of stock, and curious names that are used for
many items we sell continue to puzzle her, she keeps an
eye on stock levels and the state of the bank account
so that we continue to flourish and also helps out with
taking phone calls when we are busy.
Ruth is the proud mother of three grown-up
sons. She is a keen follower of fashion and trends and
likes to keep herself fit by circuit training and running. |
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 Allison
is responsible for the way we present ourselves to customers,
through our advertising, catalogues, mailings and website.
She is responsible for graphics, copy and the design and
management of this web site.
When she is not occupied with the needs
of her two teenage sons, Allison likes to spend the rest
of her spare time walking and talking with her partner.
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 Ian
is the owner of Fibrecrafts and tries to keep out of the day-to-day
side of running the business, this leaves him responsible
for keeping the computer system up and running smoothly,
and for finding answers to the more complex or technical
questions from customers. And he can weave!
He spends much of his spare time managing
the land around his home in Godalming, entertaining his
grand children, polishing his small collection of MG's
and visiting the Lake District. |
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