De La Rue De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British banknote manufacturing, security printing of passports and tax stamps, brand authentication and paper-making company with headquarters in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It also has a factory on the Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, and other facilities at Loughton, Essex, and Bathford, Somerset. There are overseas offices in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Malta. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company was founded by Thomas de la Rue (1793–1866), who moved from Guernsey to London in 1821 and set up in business as a 'Leghorn' straw hat maker,
Hippolyte De La Rue Training Scheme. Promoted to temporary air commodore, he served as Air Officer Commanding Western Area from 1941 to 1943, and finished the war as Inspector of Administration at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. Nicknamed "Kanga", De La Rue retired from the Air Force in 1946, and died in 1977 at the age of eighty-six. Born on 13 March 1891 in Auburn, a suburb of Sydney, De La Rue was the son of jeweller Edmond Emile De La Rue and his wife Ellen. Following a "limited" education, he joined the Merchant Navy in 1908, becoming a second officer by 1914. De La Rue