We print billions of banknotes every year
De La Rue provides currency around the globe, and it is no small undertaking! Janey Swanson takes note.
DE LA RUE is a British company that, literally, has a licence to print money! “We print billions of banknotes every year,” Nikki Strickland, Group Marketing and Strategy Director at De La Rue, says.
The company is the world’s largest commercial banknote provider.
“De La Rue manages the state printworks on behalf of the Bank of England, and also manufactures sterling,” Nikki, who’s based in the company’s head office in Basingstoke, explains.
“We also provide currency for banks and governments across the globe, including countries in the Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Africa.
“Printing banknotes is different from other manufacturing processes,” Nikki continues.
“If a company makes biscuits, for example, they want to make their biscuits as quickly and as costeffectively as possible, and they also want every biscuit to be exactly the same.
“With banknotes, every single one is unique.
“To stay ahead of what counterfeiters can produce, we deliberately build complexity into the printing process, with techniques such as putting layers of secure inks and complex print features into the polymer base of a note.
“Processes like these take time and can be costly for criminals attempting to counterfeit a note.
“Next, we print more layers of colours and textures, which requires specialist equipment, high temperatures and high pressure,” she continues.
“We add security measures such as the holographic foil, which appears on both sides of a polymer banknote through the clear ‘windows’, and print a unique serial number on to each banknote.
“Finally, the newly printed banknotes are inspected to check they’re perfect before being sent to the bank or government who requested them.”
Nikki stresses that security is of the utmost importance at De La Rue.
“Our customers have trusted us for decades as the experts who can provide banknotes that the public have confidence in,” she explains.
“Whether you have a five pound note or a fifty pound note, you want to know it’s genuine.”
In addition to printing banknotes, De La Rue has designed one third of all the banknotes circulating around the world.
“Our designers ensure a new banknote reflects the culture and heritage of the country where it will be in circulation, and they also add some amazing touches,” Nikki says.
“If you look at the holograms on some UK banknotes, you’ll discover some clever effects.
“An animated spider crawls and Robert the Bruce appears in 3D on the Scottish Clydesdale Bank twenty pound note.
“Images appear to float at depth on some of the Northern Irish notes, and images change on the
Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of England holograms.
“There’s a fascinating Fiji commemorative banknote that has an illustration of a clock on the front,” she continues.
“If you flip it over, there’s the inside of the clock, with its cogs and internal workings, all printed
perfectly in register.
“One of my favourite designs is a stunning turquoise banknote from the Maldives, which features a turtle and has an iridescent sea pattern all over the banknote.”
Nikki explains that De La Rue also provides digital solutions, authentication stamps and labels to prove items are the real thing.
“There’s currently a counterfeit crisis, with illicit trade valued at $2.2 trillion and at least $0.5 trillion is due to counterfeiting,” she continues.
“The need for overt security features, such as those De La Rue provides, is becoming more important than ever.
“The authentication side of our business is growing and forms a core part of De La Rue.
“However,” Nikki stresses, “this doesn’t mean cash is on the way out.”
Nikki explains that, although in the UK we now rely more on bank cards than banknotes when paying for goods, this isn’t the case elsewhere.
“The number of banknotes in use around the world continues to rise,” she says. “Cash in circulation grew globally by eight per cent in 2020.
“After all, everyone can pay with cash – you don’t need a bank account or a bank card – and there are no charges associated with using banknotes or coins.”
Until a few years ago, De La Rue also printed stamps, including stamps for the Royal Mail.
“We printed our first stamp for the Royal Mail in 1855 and we printed the stamps celebrating the
Queen’s Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees.
“In fact,” Nikki adds, smiling, “we probably printed more portraits of the Queen than anyone else.
“Queen Elizabeth has been on all English banknotes since 1960 and is the most prevalent female on banknotes around the world by a very long way.
“It’s a huge honour and a privilege for De La Rue to have designed and produced banknotes with the Queen’s portrait.” ■