Established in 1954, this firm was based at Progress Works, Sudbury Street (later the address was Malinda Street). It marketed electro-plated spoons, forks, and stainless table cutlery. It specialised in canteens of silver-plated cutlery.  The partners were Ian Cooper (b. 1945) and Peter Ludlam (b. 1946). Besides domestic sales, they targeted overseas markets, such as South Africa, Australia, and the USA. In 1989, sales had reached £1.9m. The firm’s issued capital was £36,941 and it employed about seventy workers. Like Arthur Price of England, Cooper Ludlam tried to cater for the popular demand for silver-plated tableware, though with much less success.  It proved unable to compete against low-cost stainless imports and in 1992 the company foundered.

John Price (1997)¹ in his autobiography related how he considered buying Cooper Ludlam to run it as a cheap silver-plated range. Instead, it was acquired by Stephen Hinchcliffe, a flamboyant Sheffield entrepreneur. He sold it after only a few months and was later jailed for fraud.  By 1993, Cooper Ludlam had been acquired by Richard Lanni, who recruited Ian Bright as sales director (he had presumably been connected with K. Bright). A marketing subsidiary, The Master Cutler Ltd, was established between 1994 and 1999, which had an outlet at Meadowhall Shopping Centre. A glossy ‘Master Cutler’ sales brochure was produced (a copy is in the Hawley Collection - see images). Cooper Ludlam was finally dissolved in 2001.

^1. Price, John, The Cutlers Tale (Lichfield, 1997)