FOLLOWING the recent shock announcement in the Basingstoke Gazette that security printer, Portals, in Overton, is to close, I thought it was important to acknowledge the history of this iconic company.

Frenchman Henri Portal founded the company in 1712 at Bere Mill near Whitchurch following an apprenticeship at a paper making company near Southampton – The White Paper Makers Company of England.

Henry soon acquired the business acumen to follow new technology and leads and secured a contract with the Bank of England to manufacture bank notes, eventually moving to Laverstoke Mill (now the home of Bombay Sapphire Gin).

In 1809 he opened Bathford Mill in Somerset which continues to manufacture security papers to this day.

The coming of the railway from London to Southampton in 1840, led to the building of Overton Mill alongside the Overton railway station.

A siding was included to transport coal and paper and twelve bungalows were built for workers.

This increased access along with productivity.

READ MORE: Historic papermaker Portals announces departure from Overton putting 300 jobs at risk

In the early years the majority of staff were from the surrounding area, but the railway allowed people from further away to be employed, which I personally witnessed in the early 1960s when, weekday mornings and afternoons, many women boarded the steam trains at Basingstoke station for Overton and return, when I was briefly employed by WH Smith on the bookstall on Platform 1. (The only remaining signs of the bookstall today being marks on the brickwork).

In 1923 King George V and Queen Mary visited the mill followed by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1938.

The late Queen Elizabeth II also made a visit in 1963.

During WW2, the Bank of England used an underground vault at Overton to store its printing plant to avoid attacks by the enemy.

In 1940 Portals printed the first bank notes with metal security threads, included in the new issues of the £1 and ten shilling notes.

The watermark highlights were introduced in the 1970s.

SEE MORE: Firefighters sent to chemical reaction incident at Overton paper mill

Portals increased production, eventually supplying security paper to over one hundred countries and enough paper to make 12billion bank notes a year from the Overton Mill.

At the breakout of WW1 Portals were employing 359 people, which in the 1960s increased to a staggering 1,550 before automation reduced the figure.

In 1968 about 150 were made redundant with a temporary lull in production.

Today the figure stands at just more than 300 with the ability to produce 14,000 tonnes of banknote paper a year.

The returns to the end of the fiscal year of 2020/21 showed a sales figure of £121.8million but, after being acquired by De La Rue in 1995, the withdrawal of a large contract by them severely affected the total output of the company.

Eventually the company was sold by De La Rue in 2018 and the name of Portals was re-instated.

SEE ALSO: Fur and Feathers owners apply for change of use as energy prices soar

The announcement of the closure of Portals at Overton, although the Bathford Mill will remain open, marks the end of a very long era for the area, a total of 300 years.