Camera film maker Harman reveals multi-million pound investment as demand for 35mm retro tech grows

Britain’s only manufacturer of 35mm camera film is making a multi-million-pound investment in new equipment as it bids to safeguard the future of analogue film as demand for classic camera technology grows.

Harman Technology is one of just two companies globally with the capacity to mass-produce film cassettes. It’s best-known for its ILFORD range of films and papers for black and white photography, and says sales of those products have grown over the past decade.

Now Harman, based in Mobberley, Cheshire, is carrying out “one of the most significant film modernisation projects of the 21st century” to design and build two new converting machines - the first built since before the millennium. The equipment will allow Harman to more than double the amount of film cassettes it produces each year, and has been custom-built for the business.

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Harman says it aims to “fast-track innovation in an industry characterised by its vintage processes and equipment”. Managing director Greg Summers said: “This type of equipment has not been commissioned by film manufacturers since the 1990s. So, the team has had to start from scratch, designing the equipment from the ground up, introducing modern standards of throughput and automation.”

Harman employs 200 staff in Cheshire and ships products to more than 85 countries. It has an R&D team that it says is the biggest in the world dedicated to research into film.