Business News The Griffin Report


Jon Griffin, Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist, meets Simon and James Price, current custodians of the Arthur Price cutlery dynasty. The firm has supplied knives and forks for the Titanic, the Queen and Prince Charles have dined with its products as well as the Queen Mother and Princess Diana and David and Victoria Beckham ordered Arthur Price cutlery for their wedding.


They have been at the top table of the cutlery world for nearly 115 years – thanks to the unwavering principles of five generations of the same family. Customer habits, recessions and


retail trends may come and go – but there’s an enviable constancy at Lichfield-based Arthur Price which has underpinned this most traditional of West Midland manufacturers since it was founded in 1902. That consistency has landed the


cutlery makers with an extraordinary clientele base down the decades. The firm supplied knives and forks for the Titanic, the Queen and Prince Charles have dined with its products as well as the Queen Mother and Princess Diana; David and Victoria Beckham ordered Arthur Price cutlery for their wedding. Three years ago the firm


received an emergency call from Kazakhstan to ship over 450 top grade knives, forks and spoons to supply David Cameron’s entourage for the first visit by a British Prime Minister to the remote Asian state. Those sort of orders from Royals


and Prime Ministers alike have been earned through Arthur Price’s hard- won reputation for discretion and quality. Values and principles first instilled in 1902 have been upheld by five generations of the Price family. The Price baton of business


values is now being passed on to a fifth generation in the shape of 28- year-old James Price, the firm’s business relationship manager. But James is still the ‘new kid on the block’ compared to his father and chief executive Simon Price, whose career in the family firm began in autumn 1982. Meanwhile, Simon’s father, 88 year-old John Price remains chairman but is no longer involved in the day to day running of the firm. The transfer of power through


the decades appears to have been seamless at Arthur Price but James is fully aware of the degree of responsibilities that go with the Price name. “I do feel the pressure of it


because of the brand name and how it is known in the UK, plus the service and quality we like to push forward. “This was always what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like dad and


14 CHAMBERLINK May 2017


James Price and father Simon reflecting on the responsibilities that go with the Arthur Price name


take after him and grandad. Of course I have had to prove myself.” Father Simon, 57, interjects: “There


was never any question in my mind about James. We have never had an argument, always got on.


‘Arthur Price will always be a family firm run on family values with customer service paramount’


“James is much more confident


than I was at his age. For his first Trade Show at the NEC he was thrown in at the deep end. I would have struggled with that at his age because of the confidence of going to speak to people – he represents the business very well.” James, who gained a 2:1 degree


in Business Studies from Sheffield University, cut his teeth in business by running his own marketing company in Selly Oak before joining the family firm, where an early task was to sort out a ‘misbehaving’ warehouse, as father Simon puts it. Simon adds: “James joined in


2013 and was in the warehouse for


a time when it was behaving badly. It was a bit of a mess and James said: ‘We have to get it sorted.’ In just three years James has


packed in a lot of business travelling for a 20-something. “I have been out five times to


Hong Kong and China, going to trade fairs and customers we have got out there. I have also been to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Germany.” Father Simon says: “It is important James gets to know our suppliers. The thing about him is that he is not fazed by anything.” The chief executive is adamant


that Arthur Price will always be a family firm run on family values with customer service paramount – it recently won a national customer service award at the Houseware Innovation Awards held at the National Motorcycle Museum. This is totally different to a corporate business. I am only the custodian here, the business is not for sale. “There are no politics in this


business at all, you can get dragged down by politics. It is very open – people here go the extra mile and there is plenty of give and take. I am straight with people and


they know where they stand.” James says continuing expansion


will be the eventual aim for the £8m turnover company which boasts a 200-strong workforce – including concessions – across its sites in Lichfield, Birmingham and Sheffield. “I would just like to continue growth, to be honest.” It’s now nearly 115 years since


Simon’s great-grandfather, the original Arthur Price, first saw a niche in the UK market for high quality cutlery, making products in his garden. Turnover for the first year was £2,930 and the first quarter’s profits were £5, 15 shillings and 9d. Sales today may be in the


millions rather than the thousands but there’s no complacency at Arthur Price. “I would like to get turnover up to £12 million but I think £10 million is realistic. And exports are around 15 per cent but should be higher,” says Simon. Meanwhile, James is also keen to


one day uphold another family trait along with further business growth. “Hopefully there will be a sixth generation of the family – I hope to carry on that family tradition.”


Picture: Marc Kirsten


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