Viners
Viners is a United Kingdom brand of cutlery, kitchenware and dinnerware products, founded in 1901 in Sheffield, England by Adolphe Viener and his sons. By the 1960s, it had expanded to subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia and France. Since the late 20th century, the brand has been owned by Oneida of the United States. Viners went into administration on 30 October 2014.[1]
History
The company, which as Viners Ltd., grew to be the biggest cutlery manufacturer in England[2] after World War II, was started around 1901 by Adolphe Viener (also spelled Adolph Weiner when he was knighted by the Crown) and his sons. They were silversmiths who initially worked in traditional small workshops. The hallmark for Viners Ltd. silver was registered to son Edward Viner: in 1932 it was "E.V" with figures and in 1964, it was "EV" with associated figures.[3]
Growth
One of the sons, Ruben Viner, became the driving force in the 20th century to expand the company. It manufactured stainless steel cutlery and other products. The firm prospered in the 1960s with a modern factory in Sheffield and subsidiaries in Ireland, France and Australia. From 1945, the cutlery industry in Sheffield began a slow decline, accelerated with the collapse of steel and other heavy industries.
But, beginning in the mid-1970s, East Asian imports began to flood into the UK. The company started importing cutlery to finish and stamp "Made in Sheffield." Loans for expansion were crippling the firm and they went bust in 1985.[4] Ruben Viner had retired from the firm in 1980.
Products
- Cutlery
- Flatware
- Silverware
- Splayds - UK License
- Bayonets during World War II
- crystal
Current ownership
The brand is now owned by Rayware Ltd, Starting in 1975, the family-owned Rayware Group has become a leading houseware supplier of some of the UK’s best known British brands including Mason Cash, Kilner, Typhoon, Price & Kensington, Ravenhead, Arthur Wood and Viners.
- Sheffield site;
- Head office - Site now occupied by new DWP building
- manufacturing - Part now occupied by Stokes tiles warehouse
- warehousing. - Now occupied by a shopfitting firm
References
- ↑ Warmoll, Chris. "KPMG administrators make redundancies at PCS Brands". Accountancy Age. Incisive Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ↑ "Knives come out as...". The Engineer 245: 27. July–September 1977. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ↑ "HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER/MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION", Silver Collection website, accessed 23 March 2014
- ↑ Walzer, Norman; Jacobs, Brian David (1998). Public-private Partnerships for Local Economic Development. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-275-96153-4. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- The Sheffield Knife Book, by G. Tweedale, ISBN 1-874718-11-3
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||