Keeley & Lowe was formed in 1980 by the merger of T Keeley & Co. and W I Lowe printers, both of which were established over 100 years ago, W I Lowe in 1845 and T Keeley in 1904. They were based in Hackney until the 1980s, in a building on the site of what is now the library and museum, which was struck by lightning in 1979 as they were in the process of moving out, and badly damaged. Later they occupied premises at the Oval in Bethnal Green.
They produced work for a wide range of clients including the Road Haulage Association, Dior, Shell, British Rail, Nina Ricci and the Women’s Institute. Colin Webb, who has contributed an oral history interview to the project, worked as a compositor and an estimator at T Keeley from 1972, later becoming a director. Keeley & Lowe moved into the Baddeley Brothers premises in Hackney and still occupy part of their building in Woodford. Now only Ken Devine
works at the company, since Colin retired.