One of the last independent silver platers in Sheffield — a family business carrying on a trade rooted in the steel city's legacy.
01 — Who we are
PML Plating Ltd was formed in 2009 by Peter Ledger, a silver plater who began working in the industry in 1978. Sadly, Peter found himself redundant after the firm he worked for within the city went into administration.
Having excellent knowledge of the industry, Peter saw that silver plating was still an industry that could thrive, and decided to use his savings to start his own plating company. He is now probably one of the only independent silver platers in the city.
The company has two managing directors — a husband and wife team, Peter & Sue Ledger. We have some excellent staff including Claire, our warehouse manager, who has many years of experience in warehousing, and Emma (Pete's daughter), who completes the lacquering of the knife blades and administration tasks, and looks into ways we can continue to thrive for many years to come.
The Ledger family are very proud of their heritage, coming from a family who have worked in the key industries that form part of the steel city's legacy. Peter's father worked within the steel works, and Sue's mother worked in many elements of the cutlery industry — including being a buffer girl. They use this enthusiasm for Sheffield and its history to bring every element of their work to life, and pride themselves on providing an excellent service and end product using traditional methods.
02 — Where we are
PML Plating is currently based in Unit 2B, 3 & 4 of the Portland Works — a building which is one of the last remaining "little mesters" shops in Sheffield.
The Portland Works plays a significant part in the cutlery industry, being the home of the cutlery works owned by RF Moseley and Co Ltd — the first ever manufacturers of stainless steel cutlery in the world, who continued to operate within the works until the late 1950s. PML Plating remains one of the last industries operating out of the works to continue working with stainless steel cutlery.
Like many other industrial units of its time, areas of the Portland Works were sublet to other "little mesters" immediately after construction — a purpose for which the building is still used today. The Portland Works was described in the 1888 directory of Sheffield industries as:
"A well-erected premises [that] provides every facility for the class of trade carried on. It comprises offices, handsome showrooms, systematically arranged stockrooms, well-equipped packing, cutters, silver and electroplating rooms, forge shops and grinding mills… Messrs Mosley & Co. manufacture every kind of cutlery and have earned a high character for the quality of their productions." — British Industrial Publishing Company, 1888
As stated above, as early as 1888 electroplaters were operating within the Portland Works. An example of one of the early plating shops can be seen below.
03 — The process
In the 1840s electroplating was discovered. An item made of either nickel silver or copper is immersed in a vat of silver cyanide where pure silver is used. A current is then put across, which deposits the silver onto the copper. This is the modern method — and the method still used today.
There is an earlier method of plate called Old Sheffield Plate, discovered in the 1740s. The technique is to take an ingot of copper and an ingot of sterling silver, heat them up and fuse them together. The ingot is then rolled out into sheets and an item is made from this. This technique was used up until around the 1840s, when electroplating was discovered.
At PML Plating we continue to use the traditional method of electroplating. There are very few differences between the plating shop today and the one based at the Portland Works in 1908 — the work is still wired up in the same way, and even some of the equipment retains its rustic charm.
04 — What's next
PML Plating currently works with well-known firms such as Arthur Price. We are a thriving business, constantly looking for ways to ensure this plating business remains operating independently out of Sheffield.
We want to continue to lovingly restore your silver-plated items, and to keep providing beautiful Sheffield-made and finished cutlery to the world.
