Thomas Neile Photographers – The story so far after 43 years

In July 1966, two students from the Regents Street Polytechnic School of Photography, David Watts from Whitstable and Tom Tucker from Redhill launched their company, Thomas Neile Photographers. Their aim, at that time, was to specialise in Industrial and Commercial photography; fields they had specialised in at College.

In those early days all types of work had to be accepted and social work, such as weddings and portraits formed the base turnover of the company but running in parallel there was a growing demand for good quality commercial work. Between the years of 1967 and 1976 the company promoted itself vigorously towards its ultimate aim of becoming solely a specialist commercial and industrial photographic company. Such well known names as Hornby, Scalextric, Pedigree Dolls (Sindy), Kimberly-Clark, MK Electric and Barrett Housing, Alfa Romeo were just some of the national companies attracted to the services that Thomas Neile Photographers were offering.

To meet the demands for a quick, efficient and reliable service, Thomas Neile introduced its own film processing laboratory and increased the ancillary photographic services requested by its commercial clients so that all work could be undertaken in house so as to ensure controlled quality.

The 1980s proved a golden age and growth was rapid with more commercial clients materialising through word of mouth recommendation and the movement of existing client personnel from one company to another.
To meet this increased demand in 1986 5,000 square feet of industrial unit was purchased to house the now expanded company which had ten specialised members of staff each with their own department and responsibilities. Demand for brochure and catalogue photography continued to grow and Thomas Neile Photographers, operating out of two Studios, travelled extensively throughout the UK and also abroad to Nigeria, Cuba, Germany, France and the USA to meet the demands of their Designers and Advertising Agencies during the late 80s and early 90s.

During the 1990s however, a big change was about to engulf the photographic world – digital photography. In 1998 Thomas Neile Photographers became the first photographic company in the South of England and the sixth in the whole of the UK to install hi-end digital photographic equipment. It was a particularly difficult time as many agencies, printers and clients were cautious of this new method of capturing images, quality was questioned, colour balance was questioned and the first nine months proved to be an unnerving time for the company. Those at Thomas Neile worked hard, together with the equipment manufacturers such as DuPont's Professional Proofing department, to prove to their doubters that this was the way forward and also to eliminate some of the problems that any new system encounters. Thomas Neile were instrumental in producing new techniques and working practices for DuPont and those techniques were implemented in subsequent versions of their photographers proofing and conversion software.

By 2005 the requirement for film processing and other allied services, which was being offered to other Photographers, had virtually disappeared and it was decided to close down the laboratory aspect of the business. Many members of staff who had seen their own position threatened by the new digital approach had tended to move on so fortunately nobody had to be made redundant. By 2005 four members of staff were carrying out the work that used to be completed by ten.

It was decided to streamline and consolidate the company and to this end Thomas Neile Photographers moved to premises at Folly House Studios, Clapham Hill, Whitstable from where they now operate.

The business continues to thrive in an ever competitive market and as leaders in their field they still service many household brands and company names. During the coming year Thomas Neile Photographers will be completing their 34th Hornby Train catalogue, their 35th Scalextric catalogue and their 33rd year of providing photographic services to Kimberly-Clark, as well as servicing many other long standing clients.

In this day and age it is quite an achievement for a small business to survive 43 years and this has only been achieved by the sheer dedication of the management by David Watts who continues to look at new markets, new technology and new ways of offering an improved competitive service to all clients in the commercial field.