A WELL-known Keighley company has celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Stell Cardboard Tubes is now run by the fifth generation of the family.

The company was founded by John Stell and for the first 20 years was based at Worth Mill.

It then moved to Holme Mills, off Fell Lane, which would remain its home until 2015.

Since then the firm has occupied purpose-built, 100,000-square-feet premises in Royd Ings Avenue.

The business is owned by director Sam Stell, along with his brother Henry and father Vaughan.

It employs over 100 people, many of whom have clocked-up more than 25 years' service.

And the family culture is mirrored across the workforce, with a number of father-and-son and husband-and-wife combinations.

Staff recently attended a celebratory reception and dinner at the Coniston Hotel, Coniston Cold, where employee Dave Wilson received a 50-year long-service award.

Despite its rich history, the company is not standing still.

"We’ve come a long way over the last 150 years and are proud of how we have kept at the forefront of the UK’s cardboard tube manufacturing industry," said Sam.

"However, we pride ourselves even more on how we have remained an innovator and market leader."

Stell has invested heavily in latest tube-manufacturing equipment, and adopted a range of sustainable power technologies including a biomass boiler and solar power.

The firm's tubes and cores have a variety of uses – from kitchen rolls to fireworks – and clients include Procter & Gamble and the John Lewis Partnership.

Everyone continued to work throughout the pandemic, as Stell was a critical supplier to many health and food supply chains.

This year has seen a busy few months, with orders running ahead of plan and the launch of a new corporate identity – which is being applied to workwear and signage and features on a new website, at stell.co.uk.

Also, a new division – Encircle Packaging – has been launched, specialising in high-end packaging for the retail industry for products such as whisky and perfumes.

Encircle produced the packaging for a special anniversary ale, made in partnership with Timothy Taylor brewery and named Tubemaker.

Stell is looking to recruit more employees, and runs its own apprenticeship scheme in conjunction with Keighley College.

The firm's managing director, Lee Skelton, said: "We’re always looking to expand the Stell ‘family’ with the right employees, to help us take the company forward successfully for another 150 years."