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Who are we? George Weil arrived in
London from Alsace in 1891 to supply silks linings to the fur
trade. Three generations of the Weil family created George Weil
& Sons Ltd which became an important source of fabrics and
decorative materials for the crafts market. The business has
grown through the acquisition of other reputable craft suppliers
and now offers a vast range of craft materials and equipment to
professional artists, crafters, the performing arts, education
and sheltered workshops, and many others world-wide.
Whether it is a hobby or a serious occupation,
the prompt and professional service from George Weil provides
high quality traditional craft supplies for felt makers, dyers,
silk painters, jewellery makers, screen printers, weavers,
knitters, modellers, paper makers, spinners - in fact, the range
of craft materials are so varied that they can be applied to
many other crafts.
In addition to the diverse range of craft
materials, there is an extensive Book Shop which includes books
for beginners through to experts. The books include titles from
artists, teachers and hobbyists and often provide step-by-step
instruction on where to begin learning about a craft.
Alternatively, the selection of Explorer Packs and starter kits
(complete with instructions, materials and equipment) are often
the best place to begin.
Below is a brief history of the craft supply
businesses which have been brought together through George Weil.
Each of the businesses are best known for specific products, and
are still sold through George Weil as Fibrecrafts dyes and
fibres, Papershed papers and Selectasine screen printing
pigments and binders. The Polymer Clay Pit traded successfully
as a distributer for branded clays such as Sculpey polymer clay
and Art Clay Silver clays. The George Weil branded products
include silk fabrics and silk painting supplies.
Fibrecrafts was set up in 1982 by Anna
Bowers, to offer textile crafts supplies for hand spinners, weavers, dyers, felt makers and
knitters. She set the standard for the service we are proud of
today. The products are still sourced from the best world-wide
manufacturers, offering choice, quality and value, and, when
possible, are delivered to our customers next working day.
Find out more about the
story of how Fibrecrafts came about…
The Papershed brand was originally
developed by Kath Russon and acquired by the George Weil Group
in 2004. Many of the Papershed handmade paper products are hand crafted by
small rural communities and sourced from Thailand, Southern
Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh and India. Other items, such as the
hand-dyed silks, are brought in as raw materials and produced
in-house. The Papershed now offers the serious paper maker the
professional materials for producing high quality and durable
hand made paper.
In 2008 the Polymer Clay Pit extended
the group to include supplies of polymer clays and silver clay.
The range also includes tools and equipment such as a kiln,
shape cutters, pasta machine for blending clays, moulds and
texture sheets.
The business, was founded by artist Sue Heaser in 1985 and the
Polymer Clay Pit, is now the largest specialist polymer clay
retailer in Europe and a major stockist of Art Clay Silver clay.
We continue to have a link with Sue and her knowledge of the
materials and how to create outstanding items with them.
In March 2010 the Selectasine Serigraphics
range was added.
Selectasine Serigraphics
was
founded by Richard Knight, 30 years ago and brought with it a
range of screen printing
supplies which include the Selectasine (previously known as Bricoprint) binders and pigments.
When combined the pigments and binders are made to create a
large choice of screen printing ink colours and effects. The Selectasine screen
printing system completes the range of materials offered to the
textile crafts enthusiast.
The Guildford Art Centre joined George
Weil in March 2013. The range of traditional craft
materials and equipment now include a large selection of fine
art supplies including oils, acrylics, watercolours, canvases,
papers, brushes, easels and portfolios to supply the artist and
student with brands including Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton,
Jakar and Derwent.
George Weil & Sons is a limited company
registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 00321890.
Registered office: Old Portsmouth Road, Peasmarsh, Guildford,
GU3 1LZ
The Team at George
Weil
The small team at George Weil are both
conscientious and multi-faceted. We're here to help and if
one of us doesn't have the answer - one of us will!
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 Jo
runs the sales department and looks after all the picking,
packing and dispatch of your orders. Our handwriting and the
products ordered are often a big problem to Jo. However she
has been working here for long enough to find the unfindable,
pack the unpackable and post to unreadable addresses with
speed and success.
Jo has two adult children and a mad boxer
called Max and spends much of her free time looking after
her stock of Koi Carp with her husband. She enjoys
travelling and tries to include as many well earned
holidays into her busy year as possible. |
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 Julie
works very closely with Jo and the rest of the team as a
vital first point of contact for our customers, taking
responsibility for the processing of telephone and online
orders. If you do telephone us, it is quite likely to be
Julie who answers. Julie also takes responsibility for
entering details of purchases onto the accounts system.
She is an extremely busy mother of four,
having seen two of them accepted by Universities, one
travelling and working abroad and the youngest completing
her final year at middle school. She is an avid listener
of rock music and when she has spare time (!), enjoys
reading. |
|  Susan
is responsible for purchasing the whole range of goods and
books stocked. Her negotiating and organising skills help us
to achieve our target of fulfilling over 95% of orders with
items from stock. She has a wide knowledge of fibres and
yarns and hand looms.
In her free time Susan enjoys spinning and
knitting. She is an adventurous cook and appreciates a
glass of wine. She is learning elementary Spanish, using
this as an excuse for travelling to unknown parts of
Spain. Update While Susan still enjoys everything
previously listed, most of her time is now spent enjoying
her baby son Felix born January 2011. |
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 Sharon
is the youngest member of the team and works
full-time for us, pre-packaging, checking stock in and
putting it away, as well as being an extremely helpful
additional pair of hands when the office is busy.
Sharon attended Godalming College and has
an A level in Textiles as well as AS levels in Photography
and Media. She has a hectic social life and is a talented
jewellery designer, with a level 1 qualification in Art
Clay Silver, as well as being an experimental textile
artist. |
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 Philippa
is the newest member of the team and brings a wealth of
knowledge about the fine art products now available through
George Weil. Philippa worked previously for the Guildford
Art Centre for over 20 years. Her experience ensures she is
able to offer artists and students advice on the many art
products we sell through the website and showroom.
Philippa is also a part-time artist in mixed media -
thoroughly enjoying the colours and textures in her new
surroundings here at George Weil. |
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David is responsible for keeping the accounts, paying the
bills and chasing up the more dilatory of our customers.
Photo to come! |
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 Allison
is responsible for the way we present ourselves to
customers, through our advertising, catalogues, mailings and
web site. She is responsible for graphics, copy and the
design and management of the web site, and talks to our
customers through the
Blog,
Facebook and
Twitter. Allison has also taken responsibility for
processing payments made by our customers, ensuring all
money is accurately entered onto the accounts system.
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 Ian
is the owner of George Weil and tries to keep out of the
day-to-day side of running the business, this leaves him
responsible for keeping the computer system up and running
smoothly, and for finding answers to the more complex or
technical questions from customers. And he can weave!
He spends much of his spare time managing
the land around his home in Godalming, entertaining his
youngest son Felix and his children, polishing his small collection of MG's and
visiting the Lake District. Ian's time here is now evenly
shared between home and work. |
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