The group briefly studied at Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute and the Westminster School of Art before establishing Carlton Studios, an advertising and publishing graphics house based in London.

[2] Carlton Studios became the largest graphic design company in the United Kingdom,[3] reaching a clientele that included Boots the Chemists, Sandeman and State Express 555.

[5] In December 1903 J. E. H. MacDonald, future co-founder of the Group of Seven, joined the company; notable artists such as Albert Angus Turbayne and Alfred Garth Jones were also employed at Carlton.

The NTP was one of the first publishers to develop the direct coloured reproduction of merchandise on art paper, setting a new standard for trade journal production.

In 1926 George Newnes purchased the company's ordinary shares and several years later, Wallace's executive responsibilities were reduced as a result of his ill health.