The History of Carrs Silver
Forty two years ago, production engineer Ron Carr (pictured above) handed in his notice at the Sheffield Smelting Company.
It was a place he’d been working at for years, successfully moving up the ranks to senior and managerial positions. In his spare time, however, Ron was working on another project - hand-made silver jewelry, which he crafted at home in his garage. With his resignation, this small labour of love soon began to grow, and eventually turned into Carrs Silver; our much-loved family business still passionate about beautiful, quality silverware. We caught up with Sales Director Andrew Carr, Ron’s youngest son, ahead of the latest product line launch, to talk business independence, favourite products and keeping it in the family….
How did Carrs get from your father’s garage to the business it is today?
Originally my dad was making silver jewelry - things like ingots which were popular at the time - just for people who asked for them. He knew how to make them because he manufactured the tools used in production, so it’s something he picked up quickly. He said that after a while he thought ‘hang on, I could be making a living out of this!’. That’s when he handed in his notice and started working for himself. It really took off when he started doing picture frames, heavily ornate ones that looked like antiques. The demand for them grew, and Carrs grew with it!
What goes on at Carrs HQ?
Sheffield is home to a lot of great craftsmanship and that’s something we’re really keen to uphold in our work at Carrs. When it comes to our silver, we purchase it in grain or bar form. The manufacturing process starts with the casting and rolling of the silver, so we really so control the production of our products from start to finish. Everything is done in-house. All of our products get the highest hand quality finish - a single fork might go through 15 different processes before it’s ready.
What’s it like working with family?
It’s actually great for us! Myself and my two brothers, Martin and Richard, run the majority of the business these days. We’ve all got different interests within the company so that works quite well and keeps things interesting. We’ve had some other family members work here over the years too and some of our 70 strong factory team today are second generation - the sons and daughters of people who have been with Carrs since the very beginning.
Any favourite products?
The items I personally use the most are things like the money clips and the cufflinks. But I do have a soft spot for the picture frames. After all, they were what started it all in my father’s garage forty two years ago.
You can find out more about the Carrs team on our About Us page.
