Sheffield Makes – Introduction

Sheffield Makes shines a spotlight on a range of contemporary makers across the city region.

Each film offers a unique insight into our workshops and factories, celebrating the people who work there, the tools they use and the techniques and processes they’ve mastered.

Sheffield-made products have had a global reach since the 19th century through the exhibitions and trade fairs which championed the skill and innovation at work in the city. Today, Sheffield exports continue to thrive, trading across Europe and beyond and making a valuable contribution to the city’s economy.

In contemporary Sheffield, makers continue to draw heavily on its traditional past. Our historic discoveries, inventions and ingenuity, and those pioneering developments in skills, craft, design and manufacture we’re renowned for, continue to be built upon.

Now, the city’s traditional Little Mesters, designers and craftspeople have adapted to capitalise on new opportunities, taking the skills of old and reinvigorating them with new approaches and fusing old and new designs, materials and methods in modern businesses of all sizes. Alongside that innovation, we still maintain those specialisms the city became known for, with a number of knife makers making traditional patterns, and people making specialist kitchen knives, scissors, cutting edges continuing to find great success.

Sheffield’s museum collections contain a huge array of objects that tell the story of making in the city, from its earliest industry right through to the present day. These new films offer a unique insight into the latest chapter in that story.