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Arthur Price & Co. is a British manufacturer and distributor of cutlery based in Sheffield. == Arthur Price (1865–1936) == Arthur Price, founder of Arthur Price of England, Master Cutlers & Silversmiths, was born on 3 March 1865. He left school at the age of 14 and worked for various 'toy smith' companies in Birmingham to learn his craft. In 1902, Arthur started started out on his own, in his shed at the bottom of his garden, making spoons and forks. Business grew and this led to his first small factory on Gem Street, Aston, Birmingham. The Company, then called A. Price & Co. Ltd, were the first to manufacture chromium plate spoons and forks, which was the forerunner of Stainless Steel. In 1911 he moved the company to a small factory at Conybere Street, where he started to cast his own nickel silver ingots. Arthur Price was a great believer in being fully integrated as a manufacturer. Around the time that World War I started, he moved the company again to Vauxhall Street, Birmingham, the company was still only making spoons and forks and which fed the then Commonwealth market. The company continued to grow throughout the depression of the 1930s, despite fire breaking out in the Gem Street factory on 6 November 1934. ((read the original news article )). Arthur died on 20 February 1936 at the age of 70, leaving the company in the hands of his two sons, Arthur & Frederick. The onset of war in 1939 created a huge drop in demand for cutlery. And to make matters worse, Arthur Junior died in 1942 at the age of 50 from cancer. Midway through the war, Frederick gained a contract with the Ministry of Aircraft Production manufacturing hot brass pressings, which formed the body of incendiary bombs. This contract saved the company, as not only had demand dropped to an all-time low, the Ministry of Labour were threatening to close the factory to release what was left of its workforce. The very war which threatened the company offered it a life line. Arthur Price & Co. Ltd continued making munitions for the remainder of the war, this achievement from Fred, as he was affectionally known, was to stand the company in excellent fortune for many years to come. After the 2nd World War ended, cutlery production started again and in the immediate post war years demand outstripped supply. Cutlers could sacrifice quality and sell anything, but Arthur Price & Co were determined to go against this trend and insist on returning to their pre-war standards of only selling the finest spoons and forks. During the late 1940s, Arthur Price & Co acquired an even larger flatware (spoons and forks) factory in Sheffield and in the years that followed the company became the largest manufacturer of Stainless Steel flatware in the country. Fred ran the business very successfully up until the early 60's where by his son John took over the reigns. A first move for John, was to acquire a manufacturing facility in Sheffield, in order that they could now start to sell not only flatware but cutlery (knives) as well, a manufacturing practise that was for many years limited to boundaries of Hallamshire, now known as Sheffield. In 1964, John Price took the adventurous step to rename Arthur Price & Co as Arthur Price of England. He wanted to emphasise the company's expertise as an English cutlery manufacturer based in Birmingham and Sheffield. In the years that followed, the Arthur Price of England brand grew steadily. A notable achievement was designing and making the cutlery for Concorde in 1976. Then, in 1977, the company was granted the Royal Warrant by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen in recognition for being a top quality supplier to Her Majesty's Household. In 1982, Arthur Price of England ended its long association with Birmingham by relocating to its current head office in Lichfield, Staffordshire. This saw the company's entire cutlery manufacturing operations move to Sheffield. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur Price」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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