The company's origins go back to 1761 when Buckland Mill in
Dover in
Kent commenced operations. Meanwhile, in
France, in the middle of the 20th century there were four competing paper mills that manufactured sophisticated paper products with high added value, especially security papers (banknotes, passports, etc.). A joint merger plan was drawn up in 1954 and led to the formation of the first French paper-manufacturing group: Arjomari. The name of the group came from the first two letters of the names of the paper mills participating in the merger: Arches, Johannot, Marais, Rives. In 1890, Buckland Mill was bought by
Wiggins Teape, a paper milling business formed some 40 years earlier by Edward Wiggins and Henry Teape. who went on to acquire
Appleton Papers of the
US in 1978. In 1991 it merged with Arjomari-Prioux of
France to form
Arjowiggins Appleton. It was acquired by
Worms & Cie in 2000. Worms & Cie evolved to become
Sequana Capital but was placed in liquidation in 2019. A management buyout of the Arjowiggins business in the UK by managing director Jonathan Mitchell, securing 500 jobs in
Stoneywood and
Chartham, was completed in September 2019. A second phase of the management buyout of the Arjowiggins overseas business, securing 300 jobs in
Gelida in Spain and
Quzhou in China, was completed in October 2019. In October 2022 the company went into administration, followed by closure in November 2022. The Chartham and Stoneywood Mills were offered for redevelopment. Arjowiggins China was acquired by
Fedrigoni in 2023. ==Operations==