This merger of leading cutlery companies was organised in 1963 by Sears Holdings (owned by Charles Clore) and Delta Metals (owned by Birmingham interests).  The constituent firms were Elkington and Adie Bros in Birmingham and Mappin & Webb, Walker & Hall, Gladwin, and Atkin in Sheffield.  According to John Price (1997)¹, it was an ‘uneasy alliance’.  The Mappin & Webb retail shops were kept out of the merger and Sheffield makers were antagonistic to Elkington.  No names were used and cutlery and holloware were stamped simply ‘BSL’.  Bad management, union problems, and foreign competition ended the venture by 1971.  In Price’s words, this sent ‘shockwaves through Sheffield.  It was the first giant to go … The end of a great era’.  British Silverware Ltd survived as a Sheffield trade name as part of the Solpro Group (founded by Paul Tear, who was Master Cutler in 1997).

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