Riley Dunn & Wilson has grown from the business started in 1909 by ex-apprenticed bookbinders, Hugh Dunn and William Wilson, into one of the leading bookbinding firms in the UK.

The founders of the Company first met while working in Edinburgh and set up their business in Falkirk. The business thrived and gradually grew. In 1956 they acquired the bindery of Ben Riley in Huddersfield.

Today the bindery offers an unparalleled range of services and employs more than 90 specialist staff.

Riley Dunn & Wilson is a private limited company (registered in England no. 6237537, VAT no. 905214262). The company is owned and managed by two executive directors and officers - Charles Dunn (Managing) and Jeremy Mills (Company Secretary and Director of Strategy and Finance).

Based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland the firm has its registered address in Huddersfield.

Early History

The origins of Riley Dunn & Wilson date back to 1897 and 1909 respectively when the firm of Ben Riley Bookbinders was established in Half Moon Street, Huddersfield by the onetime local Member of Parliament of the same name and the partnership of Dunn & Wilson was formed initially in Baxters Wynd, Falkirk.

Dunn & Wilson Ltd

Hugh Dunn and William Wilson, both apprenticed bookbinders working in Edinburgh, decided to go into business together and quickly determined to specialise in the ‘new’ library binding techniques that developed out of the rise of UK Penny Subscription lending libraries and the burgeoning ‘free’ public library service at the beginning of the 20th Century.

The Company grew gradually over the next 50 years but particularly after the Second World War, when books and paper in particular, were in short supply. The next generation of Dunns were now managing the business and diversified into library book supply, developing new techniques to strengthen and reinforce children’s picture books, publishing and distributing audio visual materials. Increasingly the business began to undertake specialist antiquarian book repairs and fine bindings.

In the 1970s, the British Library approached a number of key library bookbinding specialists with the idea of training more bookbinders with newly developed archival paper repair techniques and book conservation skills and knowledge. Dunn and Wilson were keen to embrace this concept and today are major employers of skilled and trained staff specialising in paper and book conservation.

B. Riley & Co. Ltd

Dunn & Wilson acquired the Company of B. Riley & Co. Ltd. in 1956 and soon relocated it to the existing premises opposite Huddersfield’s Galpharm Football and Rugby stadium. The firm began to specialise in academic, legal, medical and STM journal and magazine binding for libraries throughout England and Wales. The Company developed new equipment and processes to improve productivity, reduce costs and shorten turnaround times.

In the 1990s, a trade cased edition bindery for the printing industry and publishing trade was added. Today the bindery at Huddersfield offers both libraries, printers and the book trade both modern book production facilities as well as an efficient journal and serial binding and reference rebinding service and a print and bind production facility..

Riley Dunn & Wilson - Recent History

In the 1980s, the two former binding companies were formally merged to trade for the first time under the combined names of Riley Dunn & Wilson. In 1989, the Dunn family relinquished ownership to a growing regional newspaper publishing company with a public share listing. A decade later in 1998, the firm was sold to a management buy out team, backed by 3i investment and in 2007 the assets of the business were acquired by Jeremy Mills and family member, Charles Dunn.