Lovell Johns is a bespoke cartographic services company delivering high quality map making and geographic solutions to the public sector, publishers and all sizes of business. This year marks Lovell Johns’ 50th year in business. To convey this message in a clear and refreshing way the 50th anniversary video has been launched, providing an insightful look into all the production processes within cartography and to have a sneak peak behind the scenes a map makers world! It also gives the chance to meet the team and to see the faces behind the Maps!
Many things have changed since the company was established in a small office in the city centre of Oxford by Colonel Henry Lovell Johns. This comes as no surprise as over the last 50 years there has been huge shifts and changes within the cartography business sector and the accompanying production processes within it. Whilst this has been a challenging time for traditional cartography, Lovell Johns has adapted and modernised, allowing the company to thrive in its 50th year.
Lovell Johns has grown to now include two further brands – Maps International and Business Map Centre. Maps International was launched in 2003 to capitalise on the growing e-commerce market and to sell direct to consumers. It has been continually developed since then, which has led to Maps International’s world maps being recognised as the official number one best-selling world maps in the country*. Business Map Centre evolved as it was recognised that there was a gap in the market for mapping products and solutions to help small to medium sized businesses plan, market and operate more effectively.
There have been major transitions within Lovell Johns in recent years, the most significant being that the company re-entered private ownership in 2014 after a management buyout of the business from Times Media Group. Both David Stephens, the Managing Director, and Liz Murray, the Sales and Marketing Director, have been with the company for many years – since 1992 and 2003 respectively. David and Liz were both keen to keep the core values of the company – quality cartography and map making all in-house and under one roof. These principles are shared by the employees, many of whom have been with the company for over a decade. Kevin Horan, the Production Manager, started in 1985 and has been with the company for over half of its lifetime. Lovell Johns is a truly diverse company with passionate and highly skilled staff working on a large variety of projects.
Lovell Johns 50 Years of Map Making from Lovell Johns on Vimeo.