The History of Thomas Leach Colour – Printing Services in Oxfordshire
Founded in 1901 by Thomas Leach, originally a humble cloth worker from Gloucestershire, TLC has grown into a highly successful commercial printer and large format print specialist.
Having survived the Great Depression, two world wars, countless recessions and still come out thriving, we’d like to think we must be doing something right in the world of print fulfilment.
1901
After moving to Abingdon, his wife’s home town, Thomas Leach started printing on a small hand press in an upstairs room of the family home.
1920s
The business expanded across Abingdon with newsagent shops on Oxford Road and the Market Place, as well as a flourishing stationers and printing works on Bath Street.
1937
As the expansion continued, Thomas bought No 54 Ock Street from the Barnett family, who had run a mineral water and sweet factory there. This became the new Head Office.
1940s
The company provided stationery for local businesses and the clergy, for whom we also produced Christmas cards; work that continues nationally to this day.
1980s-90s
The advent of new technologies in the second half of the twentieth century, bringing with it improved efficiencies, opened up new markets and accelerated growth.
2008
Sustained growth led to a £1.5 million relocation to Nuffield Centrum, where we introduced a complete pre-press system and a brand new four-colour press.
2016
Always keeping ahead of the curve in terms of the latest print fulfilment technologies, we introduced digital cutting equipment for signage and large format graphics.
2020
Further investment has seen the upgrade of our high volume digital printer, with the installation of a Xerox Versant 3100
- offering a larger sheet size, a wider selection of materials to choose from plus exceptional quality.
There’s no time like the present.
Call us now on 01235 520444.
