paperguru.uk is operated by Stephen R. Hill, FInstSMM, FInstPPP, Paper Consultant & Environmental/Wildlife Conservationist, Paper Historian
Stephen (Steve) Hill is a Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management; Fellow of the Institute of Paper, Print & Publishing; a former member of the (U.K.) Paper Industry Technical Association, and for several years a lay-member of the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industries (TAPPI.) He is now an Honorary member of Conservation Without Frontiers, is one of the founding members of the British Association of Paper Historians, and a member of International Paper Historians (IPH). With over 35 years in the paper industry (mostly in sales, marketing, and procurement rôles) for hand-made artists’ papers to humble (though very good) copier papers, plus graphical printing papers and boards, from mills in Scandinavia down to Italy, these days Stephen is more interested in historic papers and British paper mills of old, and has written extensively on the subject. He has an extensive collection of 18th and 19th-century watermarked papers and access to a wealth of information. As former Vice President (European Affairs) of Grade Finders, Inc., Pennsylvania USA, Steve was responsible for creating a European system of cataloguing papers and boards which then found its way to directory status with Grade Finders, and five successive editions in printed format, showing brands, classifications, technical information, as well as details of manufacturers & merchants for the whole of Europe. The sad and untimely death of founder Bill Subers put an end to the publishing of those directories. If that directory was still in production today, with so many mills gone and well known merchants who have folded, it would be a very slim volume indeed! Thus, the visitor to this site will notice a very historical 'bent', and nothing contemporary.