About Us
We believe we have a book for every occasion whether you're looking for something large and playful or small and corporate - and if we don't have exactly what you have in mind then we can create it!
BeGolden was founded in the late 00s as an antidote to the grey obsessed, minimalist and clean lines movement that penetrated both fashion and interiors. We wanted to create products that embraced colour, detail, individuality and texture. Having started with a wide range of stationery we have now honed down our collection to what we do best: beautiful hand-bound books.
At BeGolden we take huge pride in what we do and spend all our working days creating beautiful, unique and long-lasting guest books and photo albums.
Handmade in the UK
All our books are made at our workshop in the UK using time honoured bookbinding techniques and real craftsmanship. Our paper and board is bound with head bands, tail bands and endpapers - all the traditional tools.
All the books we offer are a variation on a theme, marrying a material with a font, and our intention is to create a range where everyone can find what they are looking for. However, we are always excited by the ideas our customers come up with and are happy to help with any one-off requests. We can print bespoke logos, take on corporate orders, print with different creative fonts, rush jobs through, change the colours around - just email us on hello@begolden.co.uk and we'll do our very best!
Traditional Printing Techniques
We hot foil print the covers by hand using old Marshall print presses and either metal printing plates or tiny little brass letterpress type. We deliberately avoid the ease of digital printing as we believe hot foil press gives a higher precision finish. When you run your hand over the cover of your BeGolden photo album or guest book you'll be able to feel the impression of the letters.
We are a family business owned by Bobby (who has had the business for the last fifteen years) who runs it alongside her sister Claire. Helen marvellously manages the printing team and Bobby's three grown up children ( Minnie, Mac and Lola) do everything from running the social media accounts to modelling, from mending the machines to collecting the books from the bookbindery.
It's an 'all hands on deck' type of place and we all genuinely love coming to work. The workshop itself is full of colour, texture, paint, cloth and leather filling the room with amazing smells and sights and Radio 4 is constantly on; it's a very stimulating place to be.
Meet the Founder
Having worked agency side throughout her career Bobby understands the importance of solid customer service, meeting expectations and timely delivery, personally answering every email (unless they are offering free SEO, cosmetic surgery or a chance to win £5,000).
Biggest achievement: Keeping her tortoise alive for 43 years
Biggest ambition: To get BeGolden into Liberty London
Biggest mistake: Paying an Italian supplier €57,000 rather than €5,700 (luckily it was refunded)
We work with three different types of material: recycled leather; linen bookcloth and 'jewel' bookcloth all which produce very different types of product.
Our recycled leather range is our most popular, and I think that this is because it carries over the traditional image of how a photo album should be ( bound in leather, printed in gold etc). However, due to the recyled nature of the material, and the mainly contemporary fonts that we choose, the overall impression is very modern.
Linen always has a strong pull as it is simple, natural and organic in feel. All the colours are muted and soft giving the photo albums and guest books a timeless elegance. It is also extremely tactile with its distinctive weave and texture
And lastly our 'jewel' range. This is a bit of a showstopper and our most premium offering. A slightly iridescent bookcloth that is sumptuous to stroke and beguiling to the eye as the pigmentation and depth of colour is remarkable. We match this exciting bookcloth with new fonts (unbelievably hundreds of new fonts are designed every year) to keep our photo albums and guest books relevant and exciting!
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