Viners is a United Kingdom brand of cutlery, kitchenware and dinnerware products, founded in 1901 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

by Adolphe Viener and his sons. By the 1960s, it had expanded to subsidiaries in Ireland, Australia and France. In mid-2000, Oneida, of the United States, paid $25 million in cash for Viners which was put into administration on 30 October 2014.

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

-based Rayware, a privately owned housewares group, bought Viners out of administration for £1.6 million in November 2014 and in 2015 set about "reinvigorating the brand".

History

The company, which as Viners Ltd., grew to be the biggest cutlery manufacturer in England after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, was started around 1901 by Adolphe Viener (also spelled Adolph Weiner when he was knighted by the Crown) and his sons. They were

silversmiths A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

who initially worked in traditional small workshops. The hallmark for Viners Ltd. silver was registered to son Edward Viner: in 1932 it was "E.V" with figures and in 1964, it was "EV" with associated figures.

Growth

One of the sons, Ruben Viner, became the driving force in the 20th century to expand the company. It manufactured stainless steel cutlery and other products. The firm prospered in the 1960s with a modern factory in Sheffield and subsidiaries in Ireland, France and Australia. From 1945, the cutlery industry in Sheffield began a slow decline, accelerated with the collapse of steel and other heavy industries. But, beginning in the mid-1970s, East Asian imports began to flood into the UK. The company started importing cutlery to finish and stamp "Made in Sheffield." Loans for expansion were crippling the firm and they went bust in 1985. Ruben Viner had retired from the firm in 1980.

Products

*Cutlery *Flatware * Silverware *

Splayd A splayd is an eating utensil combining the functions of spoon, knife and fork. It was invented by William McArthur in the 1940s in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. There are several manufacturers. In addition to an overall spoon shape with ...

s - UK Licence *Bayonets (during World War II) *Crystal

Current ownership

The

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

is now owned by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

's family-owned Rayware housewares group. At Viners' original Sheffield site, a DWP office block replaced the cutler's head office, a tile warehouse took over part of what had been the company's manufacturing area and a shopfitting firm used what had been its warehousing space.

References

* ''The Sheffield Knife Book,'' by G. Tweedale, {{Sheffield companies, state=collapsed Kitchenware brands Economy of Sheffield Companies based in Sheffield