Harold Jessop (1894-1968), the son of a railway spring fitter, was a steel works clerk; Joseph Smith (1882-1968) was a steel works labourer with his father. In the mid-1920s, they launched Jessop & Smith in Trafalgar Street as forgers and stampers supplying knife blanks to the local trade. The firm was registered in 1932 (capital £1,000). By the late 1930s, it was at Albert Works, Sidney Street. Joseph Smith died at Curbar, Derbyshire, on 21 November 1968, aged 86. He left £26,503. Harold Jessop, who was vice-president of Sheffield Wednesday FC, died on 22 December 1968. He was buried at Fulwood, leaving £89,813. Harry Flowers became director of the firm, which also owned Rutland Cutlery Ltd.  The latter was in Rutland Road and ground and polished Jessop & Smith blades for sale to the trade. These firms were acquired by Nickel Blanks. In 2007, nearly half the output was for the USA, with the remainder to Sheffield firms (especially makers of kitchen knives), which then sharpened the blanks for marketing. Herbert Housley (2011)¹ believed that the firm persisted in using obsolete, labour-intensive, and costly manufacturing methods. In 2008, Nickel Blanks (and Jessop & Smith) were liquidated.

^1. Housley, Herbert, Grindstones Gather Moss (Sheffield, 2011)