Bowaters Sack Factory

The factory pictured below was opened in 1951, the main factory barrel roof with all of the glass windows was built to catch the rising sun bringing natural light into the huge factory, so less electricity was used to light it. The factory was specifically designed so that reels of paper came in at one end of the factory, the reels were printed, tubed and then sewed or bottomed in the main factory hall, before going out as completed paper or plastic sacks for chemicals, foodstuffs or anything else for that matter, right at the other end. The factory had its own printers, maintenance department, canteen and office staff and at its height employed over 400 people over three shifts. It was a hugely successful producer of paper sacks which were exported worldwide.

The business was purchased by AssiDoman (owned by MoDO) from Bowaters, then purchased by Papropack as an order book buyout, kept open for the minimum amount of time then closed, with the loss of all jobs. The factory ceased production in April 1997, stripped of all machinery (some going for a short time to other Papropack sites and a lot of it, printers, tubers and bottomers being sold to factories in Turkey.)

The site was then sold to Manisty Wharf in 1998. The building is now spilt into four separate stores and the main factory hall and offices have fallen in to the sad disrepair you see in the photos above. Following the sale some of the site has been repurposed with the original buildings remains, however the main factory featured in this report has fell into a state of disrepair and will likely see the demolition ball before too long.