Allsopps was formed a little over 100 years ago by Mr Frederick Farrant Allsopp and commenced trading as stationers in the centre of Nottingham.

By 1904 the company had expanded to a thriving business and consequently took much larger premises to accommodate its move into bookbinding and stationary manufacture. However, by 1910 all was not well, and so Mr Allsopp sold his business to Sisson & Parker of Nottingham, his largest client, who at the time were the leading retailer of books and educational stationery in the area. And so it remained until 1978 when Sisson & Parker were purchased by a book retailing plc.

Allsopps had not stood still during this time and were now a major national player in the print finishing, bookbinding and stationery manufacturing trades. Allsopps had also invested heavily in perfect binding and mechanised thread sewing in the 1960's which still form the backbone of its business today, though with slightly different machinery of course!

However, the new parent plc had little interest in stationery and even less in bookbinding so when they took the decision to close the manufacturing of educational stationery the management of Allsopps began to search for a way to secure the future of the business and give them an opportunity to progress the business under independent ownership.