Noble Macmillan

In the early 1980s Tom Dodd Noble and Adam Macmillan, the grandson of prime minister Harold Macmillan, were racing cars at Le Mans and owned a garage in Kensington called Noble Macmillan. In 1980, Tom went to buy a leather photo frame at one of our better known competitors and was stunned by the price. Unable to find any frames of the same quality and knowing someone who could make them much cheaper, it occurred to Tom that Noble Macmillan could set up a profitable side business. A few months later, boxes of hand stitched but surprisingly affordable photo frames arrived at 9 Elvaston Mews and despite the ‘shop’ being at the back of the garage, they sold surprisingly quickly. Equally impressive photograph albums soon followed. By 2005, nine out of ten of the country’s grandest homes had a Noble Macmillan album, visitor’s book or journal – even if the families didn’t always know it. The tucked-away shop remained an undiscovered gem. Noble Macmillan’s customers started finding it more difficult to keep the source of their beautiful albums, diaries and leather accessories a secret after a member of one of Britain’s oldest banking dynasties bought the business in 2007. As Tom Fleming and his team began to add more contemporary colours and build on the range, style gurus sat up and took notice. However, much remains unchanged. Inside the shop, the jacks that once held the infamous Le Mans car and the inspection pit are still in evidence, and so are the quality, value for money and service for which Noble Macmillan is now known. Building on the tradition of making Britain’s definitive photo albums, diaries and sporting books, we also use our skills to create contemporary leather accessories in all the latest colours.