Face to Face with Clive Vacher, CEO De La Rue

Few companies can match the heritage of De La Rue when it comes to government-issued documents of value. The company supplies high-security banknotes, substrates and security features for over 69 national currencies and, since 2020, it has designed over half of the world’s new banknote designs. De La Rue was the prime contractor for the British passport from 2010 to 2020, designing and producing the biometric ‘Series B’ passport and manufacturing booklets at its Gateshead plant.

Clive Vacher, CEO De La Rue.

The subsequent loss of the contract and closure of the Gateshead plant brought an end to De La Rue’s domestic passport production. Today, the company does not manufacture passports in the UK, but it retains secure printing and feature production capability domestically and is seeking to re-establish UK passport manufacturing via a new joint venture with Canadian Bank Note Company (CBN).