The Cutlers - The Company Today

Strategy Steering Group Report

STRATEGY STEERING GROUP REPORT

The Company has reinforced further its external profile and through the Master Cutler, has regularly been recognised as the prime voice of manufacturing within the Sheffield region.

The Company website is well established and provides an effective route for communication between the Company, its Freemen, Friends and others.The revised site has enabled this Annual Review to be efficiently distributed to Members, Freemen and Friends and will continue to be readily accessible by them.

The Master Cutler has continued to Chair the regional Manufacturing Forum and the Strategy for manufacturing in the region has been widely distributed to both manufactures and to those bodies that do and can support them.

The regional Manufacturing Forum has launched its own website during the year and this has been well received by manufacturers and other interested organisations for the manufacturing information and links it provides and for its promotion of manufacturing in the region.

The Company has continued to work closely with the Local Authority, the two local universities and Business Education South Yorkshire to drive up understanding of and access to education and training for the future needs of our excellent manufacturing industries.

Led by Past Master Sir Hugh Sykes and through the good offices of the Company and the Local Authority the Business & City Leaders’ Group has been formed and been successful in sharing the concerns of manufacturing business with those of the public sector. Already initiatives identified through the four meetings that have taken place have yielded good outcomes for manufacturing and other businesses whilst assisting the Local Authority to deliver an increasingly business friendly region.

“Made in Sheffield” mark has been very successful during the year with a major promotion of its objectives being made at the Cutlers' Hall alongside the launch of “The Master Cutler's Innovation Challenge” in our schools in collaboration with Business Education South Yorkshire.

 The strategy will be revisited shortly in the light of the current economic circumstances.