About Bell & Bain Ltd

Bell & Bain founded on 4 April 1831 by James Bell and Andrew Bain is one of the oldest established printing companies still in existence in Scotland. In 1891, the firm was made a limited company, under the title Bell & Bain Ltd. The company was successfully purchased by the Management Team from the owners Prime Active Capital at the end of 2009. This is seen as a commitment for the future to continue to provide a quality product and service within Scotland in an industry that has undergone dramatic changes at the end of the 20th century.

Bell & Bain employ 80 highly trained and professional staff specialising in the printing and binding of business, educational, financial, medical, scientific and religious books and learned journals. With our premises situated on the south side of Glasgow, close to the major air and rail networks and less than 2 miles from the motorway system linking to Glasgow and the route south we are geographically well situated for both UK and overseas publishers.

We have always been committed to process and product quality and in 1988, were one of the first printing companies in the UK to achieve British Standard registration under the rigorous standards required by the then BS5750, now ISO 9001:2008. In July 2008 Bell & Bain successfully gained certification with an Environmental Management System under the ISO 14001:2004 standard.

To further our commitment to an environmental approach in the production of books and journals 85% of all paper purchased by the company is accredited with FSC Chain of Custody Certification. Our customer requirements are such that over 75% of all printed matter manufactured carries an FSC Chain of Custody claim.

Investing in the Future

Since 1831, Bell & Bain have achieved many milestones in the printing industry, from the early days of hot metal hand setting...complex 4-line mathematical typesetting...film to plate projection system...large format film output...CTP systems to the latest technology in digital print solutions.

We have always maintained a lead on our competitors by investing in equipment and technology that would maintain our standing as one of the leading book printers in the United Kingdom.

Only by achieving this and working with our customer base in fulfilling their needs and requirements has allowed us to stay ahead of the competition.

We are already fore runners in the digital book printing market and by looking to the future in the digital colour market we again deem to be a viable force for the future.