Sheffield is a large city in South Yorkshire whichwas been nicknamed “The Steel City” because of its long history with metalcraft. In the late eighteenth century, Sheffield had unique working system of little mesters, where self-employed craftspeople working with metal rented space in factories. This was very successful and the city became world famous for its cutlery, scissors and other metal products. This history meant that even when large industrial working methods were developed, Sheffield remained the centre of this. However, in the 1980s steel-workers were striking, but instead the industry was further mechanised and outsourced to other countries and the ensuing unemployment is still felt in the community.

Shying away from this the council’s culture and tourism strategy focuses on Sheffield “The Outdoor City”, renaming itself based on the city’s proximity to the beautiful peak district. Sometimes it calls itself “The Sport City” because it is the world centre of snooker. Sheffield is having an identity crisis and they are missing out on the cultural and economic benefits that being a heritage craft centre would bring. It is for this reason we have chosen Sheffield as potential craft region.

Read about how we got on at our first visit to Sheffield in November 2023 here.

Have a look at the brief summary of the material we took with us on our first visit to Sheffield here. Please note that these slides were produced for an introductory meeting with local stakeholders, once a relationship is established we research and write recommendations that are more tailored to the region. Please contact us if you want to see these.