In 1926, the year of the General Strike, John Arthur Wilkinson started J A Wilkinson & Co on Garden Street in Sheffield city centre: four men making press tools and delivering them by bike. My grandfather, Eric Furniss, served his apprenticeship there, became a partner and went on to take over from Mr Wilkinson. In the 1960s he moved the business out to Holbrook, where we now operate from three factories on Holbrook Industrial Estate, with over 50,000 sq ft of production space. Today that heritage runs through SevenHills Fabrication and our sister company PCT Automotive, designers, manufacturers and distributors of towbars and towing electrics.
A hundred years on, we’re still here. Along the way we’ve come through war, recession and more than one steel crisis, the Sheffield way: by changing the machines and keeping the standards.
Neither of them would recognise the kit today. A 20kW Bystronic flatbed laser cutting mild steel to 30mm and stainless and aluminium to 40mm. A Bystronic tube laser, one of only around seven in the UK, plus tube bending and manipulation. CNC press brakes. Skilled coded welders working alongside robot welding, certified to EN 1090 in steel and aluminium. And our own powder coating line, followed by assembly and packing. All of it in-house, so a drawing comes in and a finished part goes out.
What hasn’t changed is the people. Thank you to our team, past and present, and to every customer who has trusted us with their drawings.
Here’s to the next hundred. If you’ve a job coming up, send the drawings to quotes@sevenhillsfabrication.com
James Harding-Terry, Managing Director
