Historic firm that makes scissors for the finest fashion houses puts Sheffield trade on television

A historic scissor-making firm that was rescued from closure is giving TV audiences a masterclass in Sheffield’s metalworking heritage – by demonstrating how the city helps some of the world’s finest fashion houses to snip cloth.
Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.
Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.

Production stopped at Ernest Wright & Son’s workshop on Broad Lane in June 2018, but less than two months later the company was relaunched after the assets were snapped up by two fans from Holland.

Now the revived company is featuring in an ITV4 series called Made In Britain, which shows audiences how items ranging from swords and pianos to horses’ saddles and sausages are created in the UK – arguing that the nation is still one of the world’s biggest manufacturers.

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As recently as the 1970s there were 150 firms making scissors in Sheffield. Today, Ernest Wright & Sons is one of just two companies maintaining the trade, which dates back 200 years locally.

Eric Stones of Ernest Wright & Sons.Eric Stones of Ernest Wright & Sons.
Eric Stones of Ernest Wright & Sons.

Veteran craftsman Cliff Denton and Eric Stones, who have well over a century’s experience between them, were filmed making a pair of tailor’s scissors, a best-selling product that is used by outfitters on London's Savile Row, renowned for the quality of its suits.

Each pair begins as two 10-inch steel blanks for the top and bottom blades. These need to be bought in, although plans are afoot to start forging them in Sheffield again.

“They were all made in Sheffield once upon a time and now they are all made abroad, I think,” explains Eric, who watches apprentice Sam Clark drill a neat hole to allow the blanks to be joined together. “You have to make sure the hole is straight so it will fit the bottom blade. It’s got to be spot on.”

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Then the long process moves on to ‘bow dressing’, where the finger-hole is smoothed with a tape of sandpaper attached to a machine that runs at high speed. When this is complete, Cliff grinds the blanks on a 90-year-old restored machine.

Cliff Denton and Paul Jacobs of Ernest Wright & Sons.Cliff Denton and Paul Jacobs of Ernest Wright & Sons.
Cliff Denton and Paul Jacobs of Ernest Wright & Sons.

Eric then hand-finishes the blades before they are hardened, which is achieved by immersing them in a bath of molten salt heated to 980 degrees Celsius. After just a minute in the bath the scissors are quenched in oil, which cools steel more slowly than water.

But it doesn't end there – the blades still need to put into the ‘rumbler’, a drum that contains thousands of ceramic pebbles as well as liquid polish. The pebbles and blades are jostled together for 16 hours to ensure they sparkle.

Scissors are subsequently dried in another machine filled with dehydrated corn, which absorbs moisture, before they are ready for polishing.

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“A lot of firms don’t polish them once they have come out of the rumbler but we do,” says Eric. “We make a better job of them.”

Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.
Cliff Denton of Ernest Wright & Sons.

Cliff assembles the scissors and treats them to some ‘final edging’.

“I’ve got to surmise that somebody smaller or lighter than me is going to be using these,” Cliff says. “They are going to enjoy cutting material for many a year.”

Ernest Wright & Sons’ brief closure after 116 years followed the tragic suicide of boss Nick Wright.

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In 2016 the company set up a crowdfunding appeal to bring back its classic Kutrite kitchen scissors but the campaign went viral, leading to an avalanche of orders. More than 2,000 people invested in a pair but it is understood only a quarter were delivered before the firm became insolvent.

However, operations were restarted by Paul Jacobs and Jan-Bart Fanoy, who purchased the Kutrite and Ernest Wright & Sons brands, machinery, forged blanks and designs from the receiver, and took out a new lease on the premises, pledging to drive up quality.

Cliff and Eric were reinstated too – officially known as 'master putter-togetherers', they are both well past retirement age but are determined to pass their skills on to their successors.

"It's hard sometimes, because the only thing they want to talk about is computers," Cliff tells the Made In Britain crew. "But you can't make scissors with computers."

Ernest Wright & Son's episode of Made In Britain – the third show of the programme’s second series – is available to view on the ITV Hub until early November.

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