SMP was first registered in 1964 by Sheila Perrin as a manufacturing company producing computer accessories.
In 1976, Mrs Doreen Wright founded The Lace Guild and in searching out craftsmen to supply equipment for lacemakers she encouraged the young Nicholas Perrin to make bobbins. He subsequently attended Bucks College in High Wycombe to study furniture making and graduated having written his thesis on the history and manufacture of lace bobbins. The moulding of polystyrene furniture components was included in his studies with the result that SMP developed the first of many moulds for lace pillow manufacture. In 1977 the name was changed to SMP Lace and we have been exclusively supplying lacemakers with a wide range of materials and equipment ever since.

For a short period Nicholas worked from home but he soon moved to premises in Church Lane known as 'The Workshop'. Originally the village blacksmiths, the buildings had been used as a metalworking shop and fallen into a bad state of repair. With much effort, the buildings are now an asset to Chalfont St Peter and a connection with the past.
In the main works, you can still see the tethers for the horses and the two storey cottage bears a strong resemblance to that depicted in a painting of the church before it was rebuilt in 1708 .
The 'Woodturners Workshop' as it is now known is one of the oldest buildings in Chalfont St Peter

Sheila had been working from home but it soon became necessary to move and in 1990 SMP moved to 'The Lace Workshop' also in the centre of Chalfont St Peter and close to the Woodturners Workshop where many of our products were made. This was a small industrial unit for collecting, storing and mailing lacemaking supplies to all parts of the world. There was also a showroom where callers could browse.
Some 20 years ago the village dairy occupied this site and traces of the old structure can be seen within the new buildings. The courtyard revealed some of the original steel paving where the milk floats were garaged and recharged overnight.

SMP remains a family run business and aims to offer a personal service to individual lacemakers worldwide.
With the help of outworkers, over 2000 sq ft of storage space and a large investment in tooling and stock we also offer our products competitively to traders at home and overseas.

By 2005, with few callers, the expanding business had become almost entirely mail order and the showroom was closed.

Author Russell Perrin
September 97