ERNEST WRIGHT – Sheffield, South Yorkshire
The Heritage: Established in 1902, Ernest Wright is one of the last remaining bastions of Sheffield’s historic scissor-making industry. Operating from the Kutrite Works in the city centre, the company narrowly avoided closure in 2018 and has since seen a resurgence as a guardian of endangered British crafts. In 2020, the firm was recognised with the President’s Award for Endangered Crafts from the Heritage Crafts Association, securing its role in preserving a skill set that has largely vanished from the UK.
The Verdict: Ernest Wright scissors are not mass-produced; they’re put together by highly specialised craftsmen known as Master Putters. The process begins with high-carbon or stainless steel that is drop-forged and hardened before undergoing a series of hand-grinding and "lapping" stages to ensure the blades meet with microscopic precision. The defining characteristic of an Ernest Wright tool is the manual alignment and adjustment phase, where the putter marries the two blades to create a perfectly balanced tension that self-sharpens during use. This focus on mechanical longevity means their shears are designed to be serviced and resharpened for decades, directly opposing the disposability of modern plastic-handled alternatives. Their localised supply chain and small-batch production model significantly reduce industrial waste and carbon expenditure compared to global tool manufacturers.
Core Products: The 'Kutrite' and 'Turton' kitchen shears, Sidebent Tailor shears, Stork embroidery scissors and specialised industrial shears.
