ON the eve of its 50th anniversary, family-run Silver Birches will exhibit at London Packaging Week 2026 for the first time.
This company was built on labels and has evolved into a single-source supplier of retail and gift packaging, e-commerce packaging, paper hangtags, printed fabric labels, woven labels, custom printed thermal labels, point-of-sale (POS) displays, and branded promotional and stationery items.
“We understand that many people still think of us as a labelling company and we’re proud of where we started,” said head of sales Donna Ward. “But that’s really only one part of what we do now. Customers come to us with a product and an idea. Our job is to take away the branding headache and build a coordinated pack around that product, from labels and hangtags to bags and packaging, so everything works together.”
The roots of Silver Birches date back to the mid-1970s in a shed at the bottom of the Harris family garden. Starting with a simple press to print labels, within a decade the business owned its own premises, had expanded into commercial printing, and was increasing turnover year-on-year.
This growth has continued and has allowed Silver Birches to diversify away from being purely a labels company into a business serving brands and retailers with coordinated print and packaging solutuons.
This is said to be increasingly important as modern brand identities rely on consistency across different materials, formats, and applications.
Donna revealed the work Silver Birches does for a particular long-standing customer with a distinctive pink brand colour. “This must be matched precisely across labels, printed items, and packaging produced in entirely different factories. We have tackled this challenge through careful sample and colour management across the supply chain, and the end result feels unmistakably like a single brand.”
Brands today also frequently need products faster than planned while budgets are under constant scrutiny.
Silver Birches has responded to this with a manufacturing footprint in the UK and Europe for quick turnarounds, a wide sourcing network, complementary in-house design support, and by adopting a ‘Good, Better, Best’ approach. This offers alternative options to realise a project that can be chosen to suit a client’s budget but without compromising the concept or product quality.
Silver Birches also offers free stockholding for up to 12 months so customers can place larger annual orders to secure better pricing while calling off smaller quantities as needed.
At the same time, sustainability now features in almost every enquiry. Silver Birches focuses on presenting practical options, such as FSC-certified papers and 100% recycled papers, and sourcing recycled polyester alternatives for woven labels as standard.
“Sustainability isn’t something customers need to ask us about twice,” Donna added. “We want to show people the real choices available for their product so they can make an informed decision rather than a superficial one.”
