07/10/11…….Thame craftsman celebrates five years in business

BOOKBINDING is a tradtional and rare skill these days, but Kew Bookbinding is celebrating five years of successful business in the town this month and will be the TAL (Thame Arts & Literature) festival’s official bookbinder.

Proprietor and Craft Bookbinder, Malcolm Kew, brought many business and personal customers with him when he moved to Thame in 2006 but he has also gained many more professional and private customers since moving the business to its current North Street location (conveniently opposite the new library. This has meant him taking on Mike, a rare and highly skilled professional toolmaker (also a certified Ford Mechanic and drag-racing champion!) as casual contractor to assist him when necessary.

Over the years Kew Bookbinding has welcomed visitors who have wanted demonstrations and has developed training courses for both beginners and more experienced customers. Malcolm Kew is usually happy to provide a cup of tea along with some serious conversation about a subject he is very passionate about!

Malcolm often works with bookbinders who specialise in different areas or who bind for a hobby. He is also gaining more customers as people skilled in his craft retire or get taken over. He seems to be one of the very few remaining in the country and for this reason, has customers from all over the UK and from abroad.

This year, as part of TAL?s Festival, Kew Bookbinding is opening up on Sunday as well as Saturday during that weekend, to offer all visitors the chance to benefit from a higher than average discount if they book services from Thursday, 13th to Sunday 16th of October.

Kew Bookbinding is also part of the Thame Loyalty Card and has recently begun to accept local business attracted by this offer.

Malcolm’s professional background is impressive. He was gold tooling expert and journeyman at the British Library for colleagues who were apprenticed after him in the 1970s and recently, one past student, now living in Canada, found him via Twitter and travelled over from Canada to see him again; that was a really great day! A Journeyman is a formal term for a professional trainer of apprentices at the British Library (formerly part of the British Museum) and Malcolm later trained apprentices at the prestigious Rothschild-owned bindery of Morrells in Covent Garden.

Malcolm and his wife Michele say that they feel very fortunate that the town has been so supportive of them and that they have forged so many links with local organisations and the community since setting up here.

PHOTO: By Frank Millar See website