Collection of film publicity posters printed by W E Berry

Collection of film publicity posters printed by W E Berry, Bradford

W. E. Berry Ltd was a significant producer and printer of film posters based in Bradford, England. The company was set up in 1888 at 13 Currer Street, Bradford, by William Berry. Berry's son William Edward Berry (W. E. Berry) took over in the early 1900s. After a split from his father's business partner, William Edward Berry set up his own business as W. E. Berry Ltd.

During the 1920s, W. E. Berry was introduced to Fred Martin at Paramount and the pair started a business relationship that cemented W. E. Berry's position as one of the leading producers and distributors of film posters.

Notable litho posters from the company's early period of production were for railway companies and for Bertram Mills Circus. Once the landscape "quad" was established as the standard British size for film posters, W. E. Berry was one of a handful of printers with sizeable market power in this business. The company printed most of Rank's overseas posters and had major contracts for Disney and Colombia.

Some of the films W. E. Berry Ltd produced posters for included 'The Ten Commandments' (1923), 'Wild Beauty' (1946), 'Oliver Twist' (1948), 'It's Not Cricket' (1949), 'Carry on up the Khyber' (1968), 'The Way of the Dragon' (1972), 'Star Wars' (1977), and 'Flash Gordon' (1980).

By the late 1990s, W. E. Berry Ltd was a flourishing business employing around 140 people. However, financial losses in 2000 and 2003 put the company under substantial strain and the company went into administration and ultimately closed in 2004.