Two brothers, one saw and a workbench in the cellar of their family home marked the humble beginnings of the Arden journey.

In 1964 the Poynter brothers – Frank and Philip, along with their friend George Snowball, set up shop in the cellar of their mother’s semi-detached house in Bredbury, Stockport.

Philip and George would clock off from a day’s work making dies at a local printing firm and head straight for the cellar where they’d continue their craft.

Salesman Frank would sell the dies and secure the orders and within a matter of months the ambitious trio had the makings of a lucrative business.

Just four months later in February 1965, they’d outgrown their 10ft square underground workspace, and moved into their first official headquarters in Marple, and Arden Dies - the first of the Arden companies - was born.

During the early days, dies were made in the traditional way of drawing the shapes directly onto plywood before cutting them out with a jigsaw.

But Frank was a modern man with a vision to remain at the forefront of technological innovations and pushed for investment in new laser technology.

During an interview with Cutter and Creaser magazine in 1975, Frank was quoted as saying: “Old-fashioned dyed-in-the-wool attitudes towards die-making have got to go. Laser cut dies are definitely here to stay. I’ve had a hard time convincing my customers, but once they’ve seen the results they won’t have anything else.”

It was a bold move from Frank, but it was the right move for Arden, who were one of the first to adopt such cutting-edge laser technology.

In 1978, Frank’s son Martin joined the ranks, and with a background in mechanical engineering, continued to drive the company forward.

During the 1990s the Dies and Software divisions of the Arden brand continued to grow, increasing our customer base and investing in new and advanced technology.

But the Arden group of companies didn’t stop there, in 1999 we branched out into the embossing sector and launched Arden Engraving.

As a leading supplier of cutting and creasing dies and CAD software to the packaging and greetings card industry, the new on-site Engraving division was a natural next step for the Arden Group.

The welcome addition of Arden Engraving provided a one-stop shop for customers, enabling them to incorporate emboss or hot foil stamping to their cutting and creasing package.

Ever since the early days of our inception, Arden has been committed to remaining at the forefront of innovation and investing in the latest technology, and that investment continues to this day.

We’ve continued to make significant investment in state-of-the-art technology systems and automation, with the implementation of our ERP system and rule processing equipment. Our box plan machinery gives us the ability to offer dynamic stripping tool capabilities and in 2018 we invested in two new lasers.

In 2020, Arden Dies made history by becoming the first UK die-maker to achieve a prestigious accreditation for flatbed folding carton from BOBST - one of the world’s leading suppliers of machinery and services to packaging manufacturers.

The Die-making Certification Programme is an advanced certification for professional die-makers, and just three years later we also achieved the accreditation for flatbed corrugated, making us the first UK die-maker to hold accreditations for both areas of die-making.

Towards the end of 2020, we underwent a major rebrand with a fresh modern look and a new website. Our new, secondary logo, which is used alongside our original eagle emblem, is inspired by the carton outlines from Arden Sofware’s packaging design CAD software Impact; while the new website showcases the full range of products and tooling solutions for die-making and engraving.

2024 marks the Diamond anniversary for the Arden group, as we celebrate 60 years of excellence and innovation in the die-making industry.

Meanwhile, 2024 also marks 40 years in business for Lasercomb so the acquisition has combined a century of knowledge, innovation, and industry expertise, as we build on a new future together.

Now, six decades on since the Poynter brothers first set to work in their mother’s cellar, the Arden group of companies employs 300 people around the world and has an annual turnover of £20million, through our Dies, Engraving and Software divisions.

Our family heritage is playing a big part in our anniversary celebrations. We’re incredibly proud to be a family business, still owned by the Poynter family, which has now reached its third generation, with Frank’s son Martin, our Managing Director, and Martin’s daughter Sarah, our Operations Director.

As we celebrate this milestone anniversary, our company remains focused on delivering innovative products and exceptional service to our customers around the world. With a strong foundation built on decades of experience, Arden is poised to continue our legacy of innovation and excellence for generations to come.