Not many firms make it to a double-centenary, so tip of the hat and congratulations to De La Rue, which is celebrating its 200^th anniversary today. When I think of De La Rue I automatically think of banknote paper and print, and other security printing type applications. So it was interesting to learn that the eponymous Thomas de la Rue who started it all was in fact a newspaper publisher, who in 1813 started Le Miroir Politique in Guernsey, before moving to London and into commercial printing and stationery and "fancy goods". Such fancies involved the production of playing cards: "De La Rue's legacy began in 1831 when it registered the ace of spades playing card produced using a revolutionary new typographical process ensuring uniformity in card manufacturing. It was subsequently granted a royal patent by William IV to print playing cards that had previously been produced by hand using stencils," says the official statement marking the anniversary. Who knew? Other innovations included a special golden edition of The Sun newspaper to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria. The firm developed a self-adhesive stamp, and by 1855 was printing them in earnest. Banknotes followed in 1860 when De La Rue printed paper money for Mauritius. More recent history for the group involved it taking over the Bank of England printing works a decade ago. The firm has certainly had its ups and downs over the years, most recently the production issues of 2010 caused something of a wobble and could even have resulted in a return to its French-flavoured origins had the Oberthur bid proved successful. It didn't, and De La Rue has bounced back and can still be viewed as a Great British success story. Surely something to celebrate.