A Family Run Company Established in 1973 Serving The Gilding And Decorative Industries
Ken Rees
Founder
In 2023 we will be celebrating our 50th year in business. Phew! Over the years, we have built a reputation for supplying high-quality products with an equally high level of service. We are passionate about gilding and specialist decoration techniques and we love to hear about your projects.
At Gold Leaf Supplies we pride ourselves on our innovative approach to servicing the gilding and decorative trades. We are always exploring ways of expanding our services and seeking new horizons through interesting and exciting product ranges.
Sue Govani
Director
Steve Rees
Director
Company History
Gold Leaf Supplies is a family business, which was established as Services Supply Company in 1973 by Mr Ken Rees who was a senior partner in the business. Although Ken retired in 2008, he still had an involvement in the Company until his peaceful passing in May 2018.
Having worked in the Italian Marble business for many years, Ken initially set up the business to supply gold leaf and associated products to the stone trade. The main emphasis being on offering an exceptionally high level of service and personal contact. Since 1973, our client base has expanded and diversified considerably, and we have increased our product range accordingly to meet our clients’ needs. We now cater to a diversified range of National and International clients involved in gilding, signwriting, glass manufacture, bookbinding, furniture restoration and manufacture, framing, interiors, architectural decoration, specialist decorating and monumental carving to name but a few. You can view examples of the prestigious projects that we have supplied for in our client gallery
As the emphasis of the business changed so did the Company trading name - to Gold Leaf Supplies. From 1st March 2008, we became a Limited Company - Services Supply Company Ltd T/A Gold Leaf Supplies. Although the product range has diversified, and the company has grown, the philosophy introduced in 1973 has remained the same - "We offer quality products at competitive prices and a continuing high level of service."
The business remains within the family and Kens’ son, Steve Rees and daughter, Sue Govani joined the company in 1989 and 1991 respectively. Steve has a background in Business whilst Sue’s background is in Art and Design bringing different skills and ideas to the business. Both are Company Directors and very hands on with the day to day running of the business. Steve is mainly involved with the purchasing and logistics. He has a memory like a filing cabinet and a sound technical knowledge relating to gilding techniques. When he has any free time, you will find him on the ski slopes or out walking with his beloved dogs.
Sue is more involved with the creative side of the business and enjoys the sales, marketing and client facing events. Passionate about artistic techniques and applications, Sue is usually found trying out the new product ranges in her spare time. She is learning to gild is spending a little more time being a hands on creative which she finds a very meditative process.
We all have enormous respect for the art of gilding and its traditional values whilst at the same time recognise and are inspired by the many diverse and contemporary ways that gold and silver leaf is being used today.
Our Team
It is important to receive your raw materials on time and we appreciate the tight deadlines that most businesses work to, therefore for approved accounts, most of our products are despatched the day instructions are received and delivered on a next day delivery basis. Where large projects are involved, supplies can be scheduled on a phased delivery. One of our strengths is that we can and have often been called upon to supply large quantities at short notice. Our prime objective is not only to supply, but also to provide a full service to our clients and our team makes every effort to ensure this objective is achieved. We have knowledgeable staff who are always on hand to offer advice and we respond quickly to any enquiries that you may have. Please feel free to contact us at any time.
Sue Jewell
Accounts Manager
Sue J has been with us for almost 15 years and has been instrumental in setting up all of our accounts and bookkeeping administration. Since October last year Sue decided to reduce her hours to work part time to fit around her grandchildren and has been working remotely since lockdown. Accounts practices come naturally to Sue and she is continuing to teach all the office staff her accounting methods. She is still very much involved with managing and overseeing the office systems and administration on a weekly basis remotely although she no longer has direct contact with clients.
Niki Rathkey
Accounts Administrator and Order Processing
Niki has been with GLS for two years now and handles all our day-to-day accounts and order processing. It is a busy desk, but Niki is always on hand with a smile to answer any accounting queries that you may have. She is like a magpie when it comes to our shiny products and uses a lot of them in her stone painting and interior projects. She has also built up a sound knowledge about how our products work and will answer most queries related to this. Niki has a strong background of secretarial and administrative skills and has previously worked for a variety of Accounts practices.
Isabel Barriga Brown
Accounts Assistant and Order Processing
Isabel is a new starter for GLS who joined us in October 2021 but has quickly become an indispensable member of the team. Together with Niki they are the accounts team that keep our day-to-day orders ticking over and our records straight! She is very creative and artistic and helps a lot with our social media ideas and creative projects. Again, Isabel loves trying out the projects in her own home and is also learning to gild. She’s our social secretary and makes sure we get together outside as well as inside of work.
Adam Rees
Technical and IT
Adam has worked at Gold Leaf Supplies for around 10 years and during that time he has built up a very good technical knowledge about the products and their uses. He is happy to answer any technical questions that you may have. He is very patient and interested in the challenges that customers projects often present. He will always go out of his way to find a solution and is interested in testing new products and applications. Adam also has responsibility for the Website and all our internal IT requirements.
Ralph Davies
Warehouse Manager
Ralph has been with GLS for over 8 years and takes care of all the goods inwards, stock control and order despatch. Ralph is meticulous and methodical which is a good thing in a busy warehouse. He runs a very tight and organised ship and is a real character! Nothing is ever too much trouble! He always goes the extra mile to make sure your orders are packed well and despatched on time.
Fred Govani
Warehouse Assistant
Fred is Sue’s husband and since taking early retirement during lockdown he comes into the Company part time to help out in our busy warehouse. Due to his previous and extensive work experience he also has a valuable input into logistics and systems practices.
Debbie Rees
Colour sampling coordinator.
Debbie is Steve’s wife who also runs an online homeware store called Elsie Boo Collections. She helps out at GLS by preparing all of our Gold leaf and other metallic materials shade cards that our clients find so useful to have in their workshops or to show their own customers to help them make colour decision choices. Debbie makes sure that we are all stocked up with these and also helps us keep on top of office filing.