Sheffield Makes: Chimo Holdings

In this episode of Sheffield Makes, we follow Ian one of the last decorative tray makers in the city, as he produces a sixteen inch cake stand from raw material.
Ian talks us through the process of making a decorative tray and talks about his personal experiences of working in the industry for the past 50+ years.
Chimo Holdings is the Holding Company for Chimo Sheffield (Manufacturing) Ltd a premier British manufacturer, blending traditional Sheffield craftsmanship with modern technology to produce the finest quality cutlery, gallery trays, silver and more. The group was established in the 1980s, uniting a number of independent Sheffield manufacturers , including one dating back to 1750, with the common purpose of creating quality products for a modern world while preserving traditional values and practices.
Sheffield Makes is a series of short films about Sheffield makers, processes and products produced within the City of Sheffield and surrounding area.
Music used under licence via musicvine.com
Claude Patterns - Pattern 1 & Pattern 32
All Good Folks - Connections
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Find out more about Chimo: chimoholdings....

[@lorawaring883]

How beautiful! It was lovely before the feet and silverplating. With it- astonishing. You are a wonderful artist!

[@markfox7895]

My first job when I left school. Was working for a company in London. Whitey plate works. In Hackney road. To solder things together we had town gas and foot operated bellows . That was over 50 years ago.

[@MrZOMBIE170]

So when he retires the company he works for and Sheffield will losses This part of the business because they never trained anyone to replace him

[@burtonfootballer5408]

Its not that simple. The demand for items like this has diminished massively over the last 30 / 40 years so there was not the volume of work to train apprentices and most kids today would not be interested in doing any sort of manual labour. I think Chimo have amalgamated several small firms including one or two from Birmingham over the years and they supply my business with some items. There is virtually no skilled labour left in Birmingham and I would imagine that Sheffield is the same so at present its all dying out. You only get as good as Ian by doing volume work so colleges are a waste of time and always have been for learning these raw crafts. I was born in 1955 same as Ian and have carried on working but I am retiring next year as well.

[@burtonfootballer5408]

Enjoy your retirement Ian.