Charles William Fletcher was the son of a highway labourer.  He was apprenticed as a silver hand-forger to William Gallimore.  In 1891, Charles began supplying blanks to local silversmiths.  In 1894, he registered a silver mark from an address in Arundel Street.  In 1899, he leased (and then bought for £707) the premises of Henry Holdsworth, which he named Sterling Works (More Memories of Sheffield, 1998).  In 1907, Fletcher acquired the London silver-plate firm of Brewis & Co.  In 1908, registered his firm as a private limited company (capital £15,000), with Charles and his sons – Charles Walter, Harold, and William Frederick – as subscribers.  In 1918, the firm relocated to a new Sterling Works at the premises of Lockwood at 76 Arundel Street. 

Charles W. Fletcher died from heart failure on 26 January 1932, aged 66, leaving £9,726.  His sons had followed him into the business.  During the Second World War, many of Fletcher’s workers were called up, and the company diversified into engineering/aerospace components.  The engineering side became paramount.  In its centenary year, the board at Sterling Works included two Fletchers – Ron (Harold’s son) and Eric (the son of William) and employed over eighty (Quality, Dec-Jan, 1991-2).  The silver interests had been hived off as C.W. Fletcher (Silversmiths) Ltd.  In 2002, that firm was sold to James Robinson Inc. to form Fletcher Robinson Ltd, which supplied flatware, at an address in Lambert Street.