Our History
We are passionate about lampshade making because we have been involved in the industry for such a long time — our business was founded in 1982 in Hackney, East London, as Martin Dannell & Co Ltd. The Company manufactured a broad range of lampshade making products and provided many services for the vibrant manufacturers who used to supply the retailers back in the day.
Today
We now operate from a 20,000 sq ft factory in Essex and employ about 30 dedicated staff, most of whom have been with the Company for decades. We are proud to be a British manufacturer.
We have always been known as Dannells and recently changed our name to Dannells Limited when our founder Martin Dannell retired. Martin is very wisely spending much less time with us and far more time on holiday and the business is today run by Jamie Dannell & David Little, and their staff.
Jamie & David have been with the companies for nearly 40 years and have vast experience in the industry.
We love the creativity of new designs, interacting with artistic and productive people and we also try hard to educate people on how to make lampshades themselves, either to coordinate with their home or for their friends or family or business. We have started a very successful forum that offers lampshade makers knowledge support and inspiration..
Who we work with
We work on many different levels with a wide range of individuals and groups including the public, designers, entrepreneurs, retailers, trades people, schools and educational establishments who may need some friendly help and technical advice. We speak with everyone, so if you need any help at any time you can call us, we would be pleased to help in any way we can.
Our Team
We're here to help and happy to listen!
We have high standards and want to give you excellent customer service to make ordering with us as easy as possible and hassle-free.
Here are the people who make that happen.
Diane Harvey
Customer Service Manager
Usually our customers' first point of contact. Friendly and efficient, Diane really looks after our customers.
If you have any queries about products, samples or orders, please contact Diane.
E-mail: Diane@dannells.com
Paul Dowling
Print Manager
Manages all our print orders, & brings a wealth of experience to the role. If you need a quote or have an enquiry or question about any print-related product or order, please contact Paul who will be pleased to help you.
E-mail: Paul@dannells.com
Melina Hayes
Accounts Manager
Our credit controller and also looks after our purchase ledger. Bringing lots of experience from a banking background. Contact Melina if you wish to discuss any financial aspect of your business or transaction with us.
E-mail: Melina@dannells.com
Richard Saunders
Production Manager
Programmes & oversees the manufacturing process of your orders and controls the production. An experienced production-man, Richard makes sure our customers receive what they need when they need.
E-mail: richard@dannells.com
Ian Pitt
Dispatch and Warehouse Manager
Our Dispatch and Warehouse Manager has over 30 years' experience in this role.
He dispatches your orders and maintains stock levels. He is the first point of contact for any supplier needing to book goods into our warehouse.
E-mail: despatch@dannells.com
Monica Franco
Marketing Manager
Monica joined us in 2019 and plays a crucial role in helping us promote, educate and present our products to our customers over all our social media platforms and channels.
E-mail: monica@dannells.com
David Eddison
Procurement Manager
David is responsible for all our company's purchases, managing our suppliers, contracts and negotiating agreements. Contact him if you have a product or service you wish to offer us.
E-mail: david.eddison@dannells.com
David Little
Director
Joined in 1990 as the company's Production Manager, David has expanded his remit to product development, marketing, IT, management & is active in all areas of our evolution as a Company. His innovative mind is behind many of our best-selling products and ideas.
E-mail:David@dannells.com
James Dannell
Director
Joined in 1995, initially as our Sales Manager. He has since built up a wealth of product and manufacturing knowledge & is now active in all areas of our Company's management & diversification, as well as product development, sales & marketing. Along with David, Jamie is one of the company's major shareholders.
E-mail: Jamie@dannells.com
Martin Dannell
Consultant
Founded Martin Dannell & Company in 1982 having already worked in the fashion, lighting, interiors & soft furnishings industries for over 20 years.
Martin remains active in our Company & our ethos of quality products and superb customer service all stem from him.
E-mail: Martin@dannells.com
Alan Went
Consultant
Joined in 1983, as Martin's business partner. An exceptionally skilled engineer, Alan built much of our plant & now into his 80's, regularly visits us as a highly valued colleague & consultant.
E-mail:Alan@dannells.com
Our EU Team
Malgosia & Nick Masters
European Distributors
Malgosia & Nick Masters of Lighthouse Crafts, a family business located near Warsaw, offer our EU Clients some of our best selling products for immediate dispatch direct from stock held in the EU, making it a more efficient, straightforward and pleasant experience to get hold of your lampshade making essentials and significantly reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork
E-mail: info@dannells.eu
Our Brands
Our British creative lighting brand, Needcraft, was born from 50 years of experience serving the lighting industry worldwide. By taking our expertise of manufacturing quality engineered materials, we’ve created professional kits for crafters and DIY enthusiasts to make their own lampshades using coverings to match their interiors or room theme, all made in the historic town of Waltham Abbey in England. Designed to fit the most popular US, UK and European lamp holders and pendant fittings, all of our Lampshade Making Kits include easy-to-follow photo instructions with plenty of tips and tricks for easy assembly, making them ideal projects for beginner crafters as well as professional makers. Most importantly, our professional-grade components are also tested to be Safe, Fire-Resistant and have Anti-Static and Anti-Yellowing properties.
Stick-it, we manufacture an exclusive range of specialist self-adhesive lampshade materials in a vast variety of attractive finishes that are used in retail lighting products and commercial installations worldwide.
Our Products
We have products for everyone.
Retailers
Individual kits and materials that can be sold to customers through store or web, perfect for haberdashery merchants, they sell your stock of fabric.
Manufacturers
Everything you need to make your own lampshades for retail or commercial projects supplied at the most competitive rates. We have a global customer base
Workshops and Educationalists
Our workshop packs offer the opportunity to do something sociable and crafty, with the brilliant bonus of learning a new skill and going away with a professional product made with their own fabric and their own hands. Many people whom have started with workshops have gone on to start successful, thriving and fulfilling lampshade-making businesses.
Other divisions and websites
We also have a printing division which enables us to offer a wide range of bespoke print and design solutions, we have two specialist websites to promote our products and services.
www.needprint.co.uk
Previously known as Need a Banner - Dedicated Website for high-quality low-cost advertising banners and displays.
Whether you want just one banner for a one-off promotion, or you need hundreds, visit our Website to find out everything you need to know about banners.
Our Social Media
In today's world, it's essential to have good social media channels to interact with our customers, join forums, ask questions and share feedback. Therefore we have many channels that engage with our industry. To visit our social media pages, click a link below.
Contact us
We hope this page has given you an insight into our company.
If you need any more information, please get in touch.