Viners

Viners is a United Kingdom brand of cutlery, kitchenware and dinnerware products, founded in 1901 in Sheffield, England by Adolphe Viener and his sons. By the 1960s, it had expanded to subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia and France. In mid-2000, Oneida, of the United States, paid $25 million in cash for Viners [1] which was put into administration on 30 October 2014.[2] Merseyside-based Rayware, a privately owned housewares group, bought Viners out of administration for £1.6 million in November 2014[3] and in 2015 set about "reinvigorating the brand".[4]

History

The company, which as Viners Ltd., grew to be the biggest cutlery manufacturer in England[5] after World War II, was started around 1901 by Adolphe Viener (also spelled Adolph Weiner when he was knighted by the Crown) and his sons. They were silversmiths who initially worked in traditional small workshops. The hallmark for Viners Ltd. silver was registered to son Edward Viner: in 1932 it was "E.V" with figures and in 1964, it was "EV" with associated figures.[6]

Growth

One of the sons, Ruben Viner, became the driving force in the 20th century to expand the company. It manufactured stainless steel cutlery and other products. The firm prospered in the 1960s with a modern factory in Sheffield and subsidiaries in Ireland, France and Australia. From 1945, the cutlery industry in Sheffield began a slow decline, accelerated with the collapse of steel and other heavy industries.

But, beginning in the mid-1970s, East Asian imports began to flood into the UK. The company started importing cutlery to finish and stamp "Made in Sheffield." Loans for expansion were crippling the firm and they went bust in 1985.[7] Ruben Viner had retired from the firm in 1980.

Products
  • Cutlery
  • Flatware
  • Silverware
  • Splayds - UK Licence
  • Bayonets (during World War II)
  • Crystal

Current ownership

The brand is now owned by Liverpool's family-owned Rayware housewares group.

At Viners' original Sheffield site, a DWP office block replaced the cutler's head office, a tile warehouse took over part of what had been the company's manufacturing area and a shopfitting firm used what had been its warehousing space.

References
  1. Oneida Ltd. to Acquire Viners in U.K.; Expands International Distribution Rights in Separate Transaction, Oneida press release, 30 May 2000.Retrieved: 23 October 2015
  2. Warmoll, Chris. "KPMG administrators make redundancies at PCS Brands". Accountancy Age. Incisive Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  3. Liverpool firm cuts a deal for cutlery brand, Insider media Ltd, Manchester 6 January 2015.Retrieved: 23 October 2015
  4. Rayware and Uniform revitalise stylish cutlery brand Viners, Neil Hodgson, Liverpool Echo, Liverpool, 22 September 2015.Retrieved: 23 October 2015.
  5. "Knives come out as..." The Engineer. 245: 27. July–September 1977. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  6. "HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER/MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION", Silver Collection website, accessed 23 March 2014
  7. Walzer, Norman; Jacobs, Brian David (1998). Public-private Partnerships for Local Economic Development. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-275-96153-4. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  • The Sheffield Knife Book, by G. Tweedale, ISBN 1-874718-11-3
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