John Alfred Cotterill (1863-1950) was a manager at the Sheffield Banking Co.   He had apparently retired by 1915 and launched Cotterill & Co as a machine-cutter of files.    It was based at St Thomas Street.   In 1922, the Sheffield directory recorded that Cotterill & Co had acquired Davis, Turnbull (a tool manufacturer).   Another firm that operated at St Thomas Street was Thomas Raynes & Son Ltd.  When this firm was wound up in 1924, Cotterill’s acquired it.  Henceforth, Cotterill & Co Ltd was listed as a cutlery manufacturer at 36 Thomas Street.  

By 1939, Cotterill & Co had relocated to 82 Tenter Street, where it became a subsidiary of Mottershaw & Rowe.  Presumably John A. Cotterill had retired.    He died at Lindfield, Sussex, on 29 March 1950, leaving £2,923.  During the 1950s, Cotterill & Co was described as a manufacturer of table knives and stainless cutlery at Pompton Works, Garden Street (Mottershaw & Rowe’s workshops).   The Cotterill name had disappeared by 1963.