What is meant by ‘Made in sheffield’
‘Made in Sheffield’ is a trade mark that tells the buyer a product was made here in Sheffield or the surrounding area. This mark (or equivalent pictorial marks) has been used throughout the city’s manufacturing history.
Trade marks of this type are called ‘geographical indications’ (or ‘GI’s). You can find GI marks on all sorts of goods that derive value from their place of origin, from Swiss watches to Cape Verdean grapes.
If a place has unique qualities that contribute to an exceptional product – attributes such as history, skills or environmental conditions – then customers will often seek out specialist goods made in that location. It’s Sheffield’s long history of manufacturing excellence, especially in cutlery-making, that has led customers around the world to seek out products made here in Hallamshire.
PROTECTING THE ‘MADE IN SHEFFIELD’ MARK
Not just any local company can mark its products as ‘Made in Sheffield’. First, they’ll need permission from the ‘Made in Sheffield’ board, which has administered the mark since 2005. The board is a joint initiative of the Company of Cutlers, Sheffield City Council and the Chamber of Commerce. About a century earlier, the same three organisations formed another body to protect Sheffield trade marks, called the Sheffield Defence Committee.
There are stringent rules on which products and companies can use the ‘Made in Sheffield’ mark. For example, the producer must be able to demonstrate a commitment to producing high-quality products. This gatekeeping process prevents dilution of the city’s reputation, by denying usage to companies making lower-quality products (or products made mostly in other places).
WHERE ARE ‘MADE IN SHEFFIELD’ PRODUCTS REALLY MADE?
Because the ‘Made in Sheffield’ mark is trademarked and protected by the Made in Sheffield board, you can rest assured that all legitimate products bearing the mark will have been made in the Sheffield area.
Production centred around Sheffield seems always to have involved nearby places beyond the city boundaries. When the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire was founded in 1624, its remit was defined as “within the bounds of “Hallamshire and 6 Miles Compass”. By that definition, products made in Rotherham, the Hope Valley, Barnsley and various other local places would be ‘Made in Sheffield’ too.
Nowadays, approved products can be marked as ‘Made in Sheffield’ if they are produced at premises with a Sheffield postcode. This means they could be made in the city, or at another site in the surrounding area. Ernest Wright is atypical, in that our scissors and shears are made in the ‘S1’ postcode area of central Sheffield, where many of the workshops of old have been replaced with accommodation and service industries premises.
HOW TO SPOT A ‘SHEFFIELD’ PRODUCT THAT REALLY ISN’T FROM SHEFFIELD
Unfortunately, there’s a long history of products being misleadingly labelled with the word ‘Sheffield’ by unscrupulous manufacturers in other parts of the world.
In a few infamous cases, businesses have been formed overseas with company names such as ‘Sheffield, England’ and ‘Sheffield’. This gave these businesses a legal footing to mark their products with the city’s name – even though the products had little or nothing to do with Sheffield (or its production standards).
Of course, some products marked with the word ‘Sheffield’ are indeed made by Sheffield – but it’s likely that these products will be of sub-standard quality, or of dubious geographical origin.
So, if you want to be sure that you’re buying a quality product that comes from Sheffield, England, look specifically for items bearing the ‘Made in Sheffield’ mark. The brand is internationally trademarked and protected – so you can trust that products marked ‘Made in Sheffield’ are Sheffield through-and-through.
Visit the Made in Sheffield website for more information about this brand.
