Stainless steel still shaping the world 150 years after birth of its inventor in Sheffield

Harry Brearley, who was born on this day in 1871, made one of the most important discoveries in history - transforming this city and the way we live.

It still powers a thriving local metals industry with a global reputation for quality and innovation.

This week historic steelmaker Forgemasters announced a move into ‘offshore wind’ - using skills from many years of making parts for oil rigs. The UK is building one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms in the North Sea in a bid to hit the UK’s carbon net zero target by 2050.

Sheffield firms also supply a wide variety of stainless parts into hi-tech industries including civil nuclear, aerospace, chemicals, defence, marine and transport.

And the wider metals industry continues to grow.

Chesterfield Special Cylinders, near Meadowhall, has just signed a deal to supply three new hydrogen refuelling stations in the Czech Republic. It comes as Boris Johnson places ‘big bets’ on hydrogen power for a greener future in the UK.

Boeing has just renewed its ‘Tier One’ £200,000-a-year membership of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre for another five years. The aircraft company chose Sheffield for its first factory in Europe.

And titanium specialist CTI already has an order book worth £3.5m, and is advertising 15 jobs, less than a month after bosses bought the company from Sheffield University. The firm also has a £750,000 five-axis ‘machining centre’ - a mini automated factory - on order.

Chairman, local entrepreneur Kevin Parkin, said the sector was ‘buoyant’.

“We are hi-tech manufacturers in Sheffield, we are not producing stuff sold on Amazon.

“The city is seeing good levels of orders, long-term the position is very healthy. We produce parts for long term projects in very high quality steel and other metals - all that is connected to Harry Brearley.

“Sheffield is still a world leader in specialist steel but a lot of small companies are shy about what they are doing and don’t see the benefit of PR.”

There were a lot of funds around and he hoped investors would choose ‘good quality local businesses’, he added.

But the industry was crying out for apprentices.

Former Sheffield MP and business minister, Richard Caborn, was apprentice-of-the-year at Firth Brown - a predecessor to Forgemasters - in 1965.

He left school at 15 and studied mechanical engineering for five years while building forging presses for the company.

He said: “Harry Brearley gave us the most important ever invention in materials - stainless steel. It is in virtually every home on the planet and is still used in the most demanding industries, from aerospace to energy to surgery.

“It allowed us to exploit North Sea oil, fly supersonic on Concorde in the 1970s and helped build the world’s first three-shafted aero-engine, the Rolls-Royce RB211.

“That is all thanks to the skills of Sheffield’s engineers and metallurgists and apprentices.”

William Cook Holdings, based on Parkway Avenue, is a castings specialist boasting a ‘Precision Foundry’ that makes steel components with a 3D printer.

The fifth generation company also has operations in Leeds and County Durham.

Chairman Sir Andrew Cook reflected on a life less advanced - or comfortable - without stainless.

“Consider life without stainless steel – as it once was. Kitchen sinks made of stone; men shaving exclusively with cut-throat razors, the blades kept in thick grease when not in use; steel knives requiring constant cleaning; cutlery made only in costly silver or silver plate; car fittings rusting away – and that’s just the domestic stuff.

“Unseen but vital to a developed economy, for they all require stainless steel for their production – no plastics; fewer chemicals and pharmaceuticals; no sub-sea oil and gas.

“The list is long, and it’s thanks to Harry Brearley that we have stainless steel to provide the material for our daily needs. Otherwise we’d be back to copper, brass, lead and zinc – all expensive, all limited in application – and the quality of life we enjoy today would be significantly less."

The Freshgate Trust Foundation is a grant-making charity established in 1941 by Harry Brearley, the discoverer of stainless steel in Sheffield, with an initial investment of £20,000.

Harry wanted to: "Operate and support ideas which are likely to make life more bearable, cheerful and attractive to people who have a limited choice in the occupations they follow and the locality and surroundings in which they live."

The original name was The Burden Fund, but in 1962 when the Company was created it was called The Freshgate Trust Foundation to reflect Harry Brearley's vision that it would create new opportunities or "a fresh gate".

Since 1941 the money has been invested and the value has increased significantly. The dividends earned from investments are used to support local charitable causes.

It recently estimated that from Harry's initial investment, Freshgate has made grants exceeding £2m to many hundreds of charitable groups.

The Trust awards around £100,000 per year in small grants for charitable activities in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. It gives grants to:

• Registered charities.

• Small local groups i.e. sports clubs, community groups run by volunteers.

• Holiday projects.

It only gives grants to projects situated and managed in South Yorkshire. They must fall within one or more of the following categories:

• Education (including travel and training)

• Heritage, Restoration and Environment

• Music and the Arts

• Recreation (including holidays and sport)

• Welfare, Health and Social Care

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We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.