Roy Bierton (1929 - 2016) was a cutlery manufacturer with a factory on Well Meadow Street. He learnt his trade in his father, Ernest Bierton’s cutlery works on Bailey Lane.

Roy left his father’s company, E Bierton, Mirror Polisher, and started his own company around 1953/4. He worked primarily on his own at first, polishing and sharpening other people’s blades building up his client base. In the beginning the work was hard and dangerous, demanding long hours and working in conditions that today’s health and safety would not allow. From very humble beginnings in a leased, smoke-filled room and using a basic polishing machine, paid for in instalments (both acquired through friends & associates of his father), Roy was able to start and grow his own business.

As the orders increased, he acquired another, and better polishing machine made by a friend of his based upon a similar design of an existing commercial machine. It was hard going, and he worked six days a week for at least 12 hours a day. A few years later, his younger brother John joined him after his army service, and he brought along a friend called Sid Staniforth. They all worked together and the company was called Bierton Brothers & Staniforth with Roy having the controlling interest. John Bierton left Bierton Bros & Staniforth in 1960 and went to work for his father Ernest Bierton eventually taking over this firm to become E Bierton and Son, Mirror Polishers on Bailey Lane.

Roy, meanwhile, went into partnership with Sid Staniforth to form Bierton and Staniforth (Roy was the senior partner). Their factory was initially on Well Meadow Street and became quite successful, stamping out and polishing blades for other cutlery manufacturers as well as producing their own cutlery. The business grew and acquired larger premises in Holland Street sometime in the mid to late 1960s. Shortly after the move to Holland Street, however, the partnership broke up and Sid Staniforth bought the controlling interest in the firm.

Roy Bierton started afresh and began to produce a wider range of cutlery. He formed ‘Roy Bierton Ltd’ and he set up with a factory again in Well Meadow Street where it remained until the late 1970s.

Roy Bierton was a skilled craftsman and made all kinds of cutlery including table cutlery, pen knives and Bowie Knives. The pie server pictured was made by Roy for Lyons Cakes in 1971. His son, Martin Bierton, tells us that it was used in a Lyons TV advert around that time. He reflects that his parents "had booked a cruise holiday and the order from Lyons was so big with a very tight time factor to it.  It was entrusted to me to support this venture! I used to leave my secondary school (I was in the sixth form) at the end of the day and drive down to his factory in Well Meadow Street to help out. I used a special ‘jig’ to kink the blades. It had to be done very carefully so as not to crack the blade. I used to spend three or four hours there most evenings so his staff could continue the next stage of the manufacturing procedure the following day and ensure the order would not fall behind. This was more important at the time than keeping up with my homework!"
"My father made all kinds of cutlery knives. These are the ones I remember bolstering and, in some cases, ‘whetting’ (putting an edge on them) in his factory during my summer holidays from school. Table knives, Bread Knives, Steak Knives, Cheese Knives, Carving Knives, ‘Dinky Knives’ (Fruit Knife)... He also made Sheath Knives and Bowie Knives."

Roy also had another Company called ‘Central Wholesale Company', which sold Roy Bierton cutlery as well as buying & selling pewter tankards etc and cutlery sets from other manufacturers. He also had an interest in an Engineering Firm which made machinery for the cutlery trade, believed to be called ‘Sonbro Engineering’.

Roy recognised that the cutlery trade in the 1970s was dying in Sheffield and he discouraged his son from entering the trade. With the difficult economic climate at the time, he gradually pared back his interests. By the end of the decade, the engineering side had closed and the cutlery business was being wound down. By the mid-eighties he was making Bowie Knives, Sheath Knives and Penknives etc. mainly for Herbert Slaters on Arundel Street while at the same time still making his own cutlery, sold through Central Wholesale Company.

The Trust has a number of pieces of equipment that were used by Roy Bierton in his workshop. These were kindly donated by his family after his death in 2016.