Formed in 1898 out of the British branch of the American firm Maguire & Baucus (formed 1894) which had traded in films as the Continental Camera Company. It was the leading film producer in Britain at the turn of the century, specialising in actuality, travel and reportage. When Charles Urban took over in 1897 as managing director he changed the name to Warwick Trading Company and moved premises from Liverpool Street to Warwick Court. He left the company in 1903. Between 1906 and 1909 it was headed by Will Barker, and between 1913 and 1915 by the naturalist photographer Cherry Kearton, after which the company went into receivership.