The Cutlers - The Company Today

The Master Cutler, James H Newman

JAMES H NEWMAN - MASTER CUTLER, 2009-2010

James Newman was elected as Master Cutler on 7 September and installed on 6 October 2009. He is a Yorkshire man born and bred. He was educated at Birkdale School, Sheffield and then Wellingborough School, Northamptonshire.  He became a Freeman of the Cutlers' Company in 1996 whilst at BRIDON, the wire and rope manufacturers in Doncaster, and a Member of the Company in 2006.

As the Chairman of three public companies and an active board member of three others, he is well known across the region’s business community and in the City. He is also Chairman of Finance Yorkshire, which is the main venture capital fund for SME’s and start up’s in Yorkshire and is Deputy Chairman of the Governors of Sheffield Hallam University. Any spare time is spent as Treasurer of a national Charity with 18 care homes across the country.

His career spans more than 35 years mainly in Yorkshire and northern-based companies. He was articled in Sheffield at Pannell Kerr Forster and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1972, undertaking the audit, accountancy and tax work for many Sheffield businesses, including his favourite football team, Sheffield Wednesday.

He joined Viners in 1975, which at the time the largest cutlery company in the UK and over the subsequent years has worked with a large number of different industries, including manufacturing, services and utilities across a variety of sectors - from cutlery and silverware to engineering, printing, textiles and even fur coats!

He has spent almost his entire career on public company boards as Finance Director. His last full time role was as Group Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive for Kelda Group plc, the parent company of Yorkshire Water, where he was parachuted in as part of the new management team following the disastrous problems of the drought in 1995/6. Since leaving Kelda in 2002, he has pursued a successful non-executive career.

In his year as Master, he plans to lobby for a rebalancing of the economy towards more manufacturing and job based industries, improve the access to finance for industry in South Yorkshire and to promote the region’s business interests further afield.

He has been married to Lesley since 1996 and has three children (two from his previous marriage) - Mathew, Peter and Oliver aged 32, 30 and 12 respectively. He also has two grandchildren.