Tag: Lichfield

Cutlery Firm Sees Changes In Life During Lockdown Through Its Sales

After the first closure in its 118-year history, cutlery firm Arthur Price is reporting a change in the products it is currently selling, illustrating how life has changed during lockdown. The shops and factories of this family-owned business remain closed, but its website is seeing an increase in demand. Demand not just for everyday cutlery due to more people spending time at home, but increased sales in its high-ticket, silver service pieces and more traditional patterns as many people replicate going out to the pub or a restaurant around their kitchen or dinner table.

 

Simon Price, CEO said: “At the end of March, I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what the future held for the company. We had a many online orders so with lots of planning, and a very small team of five people we were able to recently start fulfilling sales will adhering to strict safety working rules. It is lots of small steps as we adapt to this new norm, but demand is steadily rising, and you can see how life has changed over the last three months just by looking at our cutlery sales.”

 

Simon continued: “With fewer people commuting, home-schooling and many furloughed, people and families are obviously together more at normal mealtimes. Takeaway are sales rocketing, Zoom parties and quizzes the new entertainment, and movie nights replacing a trip to the pub or a restaurant. And with so many anniversaries, birthdays and weddings being missed, people are certainly being creative and finding ways to make their ‘Big Night In’ feel as special as possible. We’ve seen demand for all products higher than we expected, interestingly on our prestigious high-ticket silver-plate cutlery sets, as people aim to recreate that ‘going out’ experience in their own home.

 

“I’m so grateful that there is still demand for our products and I’d love to hang out the bunting, welcome everyone to our shops with a glass of something but alas it isn’t to be at the moment. As we are all missing going out to pubs and restaurants, we have created a ‘Stay At Home Sale’ – 35% off everything and free UK mainland delivery with no minimum order, until the end of May.”

The business temporarily closed for the first time in its 118-year history back in March. Started in Birmingham in October 1902 it has survived two world wars, the Great Depression and Spanish Flu but, as a non-essential business, CEO Simon Price, the fourth generation of the Price family at the helm, closed the door on 23rd March. Simon together with his son James are working in their Lichfield warehouse packing boxes and dispatching orders supported by three others, compared to a team of normally over 100.

 

James Price, Simon’s son and the fifth generation of the Price family to work at firm said: “Online demand is increasing and my Dad and I are working flat out to pack the orders as our shops across the UK and factories in Sheffield or Birmingham will remain closed until it is safe to open.  I spent many summer holidays working in the warehouse, learning about the business and this has helped me fulfill many more orders than we had expected. We have lots of brand-new stock across all ranges, but it is interesting how different product patterns are coming to the fore, many of which are enjoying a renaissance.

“For the remainder of May we are going for it with a huge promotion – 35% off is a big saving especially on our silver canteens, but the offer is across every single item and there is no silly nonsense of minimum orders or charging for delivery.  It’s a simple, transparent offer but only available until the end of May.”

 

Order direct from www.arthurprice.com no minimum order and delivery is free.

35% Off May Sale – Only Around Until 31 May

Our Lichfield Factory Shop maybe closed but we are still able to send you our wonderful cutlery and gifts online and until the end of May we have an amazing special sale.  35% off, yes 35% off…all products, all brand-new from the factory warehouse, free delivery and no minimum order.  It’s as simple as that.  Just remember to use the special code STAYATHOMEMAY on our website www.arthurprice.com

Cutlery Firm Closes For First Time In 118 Year History As Boss Thanks Staff

Lichfield family firm Arthur Price has temporarily closed during the Covid 19 crisis. Having already closed its Lichfield factory shop last week due to worries over social distancing, CEO Simon Price has closed its Birmingham and Sheffield factories and Lichfield HQ.
 
“I’d like to thank every single member of the team for working with me during these difficult days, everyone has been brilliant; thoughtful and considerate of other staff, suppliers and customers and I thank them during this unprecedented worldwide crisis.”
 
“We stayed open even during two world wars, survived the great depression but this situation is different, and I pray for everyone that they stay fit and healthy.
 
“Please if you can support local independent businesses who are still able to open and are providing essential services while of course following social distancing advice.
 
“Everyone please stay at home. We may come back a slightly different society, but we will prevail. I am convinced with the measures that we take now we will beat this terrible virus.”

Arthur Price CEO is made Honorary Freeman of Lichfield 

Arthur Price CEO Simon Price is made Honorary Freeman of Lichfield in recognition of services to the city. At a Mayoral service at the Guildhall, Lichfield, Simon was installed, along with others as a Freeman

The Smiths are members, known as Freemen, of the Worshipful Company of Smiths, Goldsmiths, Cardmakers and Ironmongers, Pewterers and Braziers, Cutlers, Nailors and Spurriers of the City of Lichfield.

The Company was already recognised in 1601 as ‘an antient society’ when its charter was renewed and it is more than possible that its history goes back centuries further.

Guilds, Companies and Mysteries were mainly of medieval origin, coming into being to protect the often precarious livelihoods of craftsmen.  Lichfield was too small for each craft to have its own guild which brought about the amalgamation of the trades into a single company, known for short as ‘The Smiths.’

The guilds became powerful and often took on responsibilities later to be performed by municipal councils.  Abuses of the power of the guilds led to curbs on their activities and the need for charters to be granted and ratified.

Subsequent legislation gradually whittled away the power of the guilds and many died away.  The Lichfield Company is one of a comparatively few to remain, not, now, to protect the livelihoods of its members but to encourage craftsmanship.  To this end, men and women skilled in their craft living or working in Lichfield are invited to become Freemen, apprentices are sponsored and  people who have been singled out for their services to the City are appointed as Honorary Freemen.

The major events of the Company’s year are the Mayoral Court in February, at which new members are sworn, followed by the Annual Feast chaired by the newly installed Worshipful Master; the Annual General Meeting, still held in the week following St Clement’s Day according to ancient custom; the Garden Party in July and visits throughout the year at the whim of the Master.

A Bluffers Guide To Business Etiquette

In association with the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton and The Mount Hotel, Wolverhampton, the UK’s leading etiquette coach William Hanson spent an evening with us to teach a group about etiquette.  It was an amazingly fun evening with lots of laughter and lots of learning.  Who knew etiquette could be so much fun.  A massive thanks to William Hanson the Wolverhampton Grand and The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall.

                  

A-Plan Supports We Love Lichfield

A-Plan Insurance is celebrating a new partnership with ‘We Love Lichfield’, a local community fund that provides small grants to a wide range of voluntary projects based in Lichfield District. A-Plan’s Lichfield branch in Bore Street have agreed to donate £25 every time someone takes out a car, van or home policy and mentions ‘We Love Lichfield’.

 

Laura Maritza (Branch Manager) said: “We are really proud to be supporting We Love Lichfield and the excellent work they do locally. The team and I are looking forward to getting involved with activities throughout 2020 and beyond.”

 

Laura continued: “We like to be where people can access us easily and where we have an opportunity to engage with local people, businesses and charities. This allows us to really become part of the community. Lichfield is a great location for A-Plan and on a personal level I feel proud to play a part in the area’s vibrant economy.  We are here to provide a personalised service, designed to help our clients find the protection they need.”

 

Simon Price, CEO of Arthur Price and Patron of We Love Lichfield, said: “Thank you A-Plan twice.  Firstly, for agreeing to donate £25 for each car, van or home policy bought.  Secondly, to have a national company supporting a small but growing fund like ours, shows that our work is recognised as making a real difference.  It gives us all a boost to raise even more money to help the local community.”

 

We Love Lichfield provides small grants twice a year to a wide range of projects based in Lichfield District. Companies and individuals can donate, or fund raise and all money is invested through a permanent endowment fund by registered charity The Community Foundation For Staffordshire in line with charity commission guidelines. The interest and dividends earned is then distributed by the Fund as small grants across the district twice a year. The beauty of this model is that it will provide a source of on-going funding for many years to come. The aim is by 2023 to have created enough capital to give away £50K every year for ever. More information: www.welovelichfield.com

A-Plan has over 90 branches nationwide and it’s Bore Street Lichfield branch offers local residents, and businesses a more personalised way of arranging home, motor, travel or business insurance as an alternative to online insurance sites. A-Plan does all the hard work to find the right cover to suit clients’ individual circumstances.  Insurance cover can be arranged by phone, or by popping into the branch. Refreshingly, A-Plan does not have call centres or call queuing systems.

 

Pictured: The team from A-Plan Lichfield with Simon Price (far left) and Julian Fisher (far right) of We Love Lichfield

Full Of Christmas Cheer

Christmas came early for good causes across the district after We Love Lichfield donated thousands of pounds in grants at its special festive presentation. The charity, which supports voluntary groups making a difference in our communities, invited recipients, civic leaders, businesses and other guests to the event in Lichfield’s George Hotel last Friday (December 13). Thirteen voluntary groups received grants in front of a packed room of people who immediately got into the Christmas spirit courtesy of carol signing by the Lichfield Friary School Choir Shout it Out.

At the start the Patron of We Love Lichfield and CEO of Arthur Price Simon Price asked all the fund’s advisors to stand up and receive applause from the room. He said: “I stand up here and talk to you about the fund but there are lots of other people who work in their own time to make We Love Lichfield work for our community.  Please applaud the team of Terry Turner, John Heeler, Carrie Jahn, Susan Bamford, Tim Matthews, Chris Spruce, Adrian Viles, Tim Munton and Robert Yardley. Specific thanks go Mark Santy of the George Hotel for hosting, Julian Fisher for organising this event and I also welcome new advisors including Keith Eagland, Joanna Churton and Kath Jukes.”

 

Simon then spoke of the work of We Love Lichfield and how as a nation we owe so much to the wonderful work of volunteers and how humbling it is to help in a small way.  He then announced to the 100+ strong room of guests that the Fund has given away grants now on average every 10 days since it started.  After more applause, he invited all the organisations who were there to receive grants to talk about themselves and their contribution to the district.  Organisations receiving grants included: City of Lichfield Friends, King George V Memorial Scouts and Guides, Kendall and Wall Charitable Trust, Friends 2 Friends, The Lichfield Trishaw Project, Diocesan Digest Sound Magazine of Lichfield Cathedral, Clifton Campville Village Hall, Midlands Soccer Academy, Lichfield and District Talking News, Lichfield Re:Cycle, Cogs Prepares 4 Life, Curborough Community Association and Lichfield Society of Arts.

 

In addition to their grants, the organisations received goody bags from local businesses. The bags are given to the volunteers themselves as a small thank you for giving up their own to help others. There were gifts inside the bags from Arthur Price, The George Hotel, the Wolverhampton Grand and David Lloyd Leisure.

 

And in the middle of the presentation a previous grant recipient spoke of their work and how We Love Lichfield had helped them. Step O’Shea of Spark in Burntwood thanked everyone for their support and received a round of applause for the centre’s work in Burntwood and the surrounding area.

 

The finale of the presentation was a surprise appearance by celebrity and actor Su Pollard to present a special prize.  Currently starring in the Dick Whittington panto at the Wolverhampton Grand, Su shouted “hi-de-hi” to the audience who of course responded “ho-de-ho”.  Su was the special surprise guest to present a brand-new award – The We Love Lichfield Business Community Champion.  Created to celebrate businesses who support the fund through donations and publicity, the inaugural award went to Richard Winterton of Richard Winterton Auctioneers who have so far raised over £5000.  A stunned Richard was welcome onto the stage and presented with an engraved silver salver by Su.

He said: “The We Love Lichfield Christmas giveaway is always an inspiring event which highlights such a diverse range of stories from groups across our district. I feel passionately about the fund and its continuous work to help and support so many wonderful local charities and volunteers. It is already a pleasure and a privilege to be involved so to be named We Love Lichfield fundraising champion 2019 is the absolute icing on the cake – as well as a huge surprise! It is an incredible honour which left me completely choked and I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at We Love Lichfield. I’d also like to pay tribute to all those members of the fund who work so hard throughout the year ensuring the continuation of this vital support for our communities.”

 

Su said: “I’m delighted to present this award and to meet so many people and organisations who support We Love Lichfield.  I’m also in awe of all the volunteers who We Love Lichfield support and who do so much good. I thank you all.”

 

Many businesses across the district presented cheques to the fund on the day including The George Hotel – £1400, Richard Winterton £980, Lichfield Cricket Club £3000 and Poppins Nursery £250 which were all gratefully received.

 

We Love Lichfield is a local fund that provides small grants to a wide range of projects based in Lichfield District. The fund considers all applications from local groups in need twice a year.  Companies and individuals are welcome to donate or fund-raise and all money is invested through a permanent endowment fund by registered charity The Community Foundation for Staffordshire on behalf of We Love Lichfield in line with charity commission guidelines. The interest and dividends earned on the invested money is then distributed by the Fund as small grants across the district. The beauty of this model is that it will provide a source of on-going funding that can be used for small grants, and larger grants as the fund grows, for many years to come. The aim is by 2023 to have created enough capital to give away £50K every year for ever. For more details and to make a donation to the fund, please visit www.welovelichfield.com

The Greatest Ever Factory Shop Sale

Christmas will ‘Come Alive’ this year with up to 80% off cutlery and gifts at the Arthur Price Christmas Factory Show Sale.  ‘From Now On’ stop the all your other festive shopping, clear the 30 Nov til 14 Dec in your diary and visit our amazing Factory Shop on Britannia Way, Lichfield. ‘A Million Dreams’ will come true with these amazing prices and savings.  Your Christmas will ‘Come Alive’.

This is ‘The Greatest Show’.

Shhhh…we have a secret

Can you keep a secret? We have a loyalty scheme for our special Factory Shop customers and every so often we have a Secret Sale with some Fab-u-lous (darling) offers. There’s a special sale starting Saturday 7th until Saturday 28th September but don’t worry there is a way not to miss out.  Pop into the shop or call 01543 267324, sign up to the club, and see what amazing items you can get for some amazing prices.

 

 

Richard Winterton Raise £1K for We Love Lichfield and £500 For St Marys

Can we say a massive thanks to Richard Winterton Auctioneers who raised £1000 for We Love Lichfield and £500 for the Guild of St Mary’s courtesy of some special lots at their Watch & Designer Sale on Monday, 15 July.

 

The sale had three charity lots – a 2019 ICC World Cup England jersey, fully signed by the England team at Edgbaston before the semi-final against Australia; a cricket bat signed by cricketer Graeme Swann and sports broadcaster Pat Murphy; and a limited edition RAF Red Arrows 2019 artwork signed by ‘Red 1’ through to ‘Red 10’ and the aerobatic team’s commanders, donated by Michael Mullarkey and Michael’s Menswear.

 

These resulted in a total of £500 for the We Love Lichfield fund.

 

A percentage from the entire auction is also to be donated to We Love Lichfield, with a matched amount going to The Guild Of St Mary’s – £500 each.

 

In the past year, Richard Winterton Auctioneers has already raised more than £3,000 for We Love Lichfield. The latest amount sees the family firm well on the way to the £5,000 milestone.

 

Introducing the auction, We Love Lichfield patron Simon Price said the fund is ‘giving money back to our community’.

“Volunteers are wonderful people,” he said. “Lichfield is full of volunteers and you don’t realise how wonderful these people are until you actually meet them. Lichfield is getting bigger, funding is getting smaller and the pressure on voluntary groups is just growing and growing and growing. We raise money, we invest money and we give that money back. It’s like a pension fund for the future – the pot never gets smaller.

 

“We aim to give £50,000 a year away and [since the fund started] already we have helped 154 different voluntary organisations in the district of Lichfield. By Christmas 2019 we will have given back to our own community £200,000. But we do need to do more – it’s about helping our own community, our own people.”

 

Richard Winterton said: “We Love Lichfield is such an important fund which helps so many small local voluntary-run clubs and projects which so often provide an absolute lifeline in their community. It is a real privilege to be involved in this wonderful organisation and we are delighted to have been able to help.”