This is a guest article written by the Spear & Jackson team.
Spear & Jackson was founded in the City of Sheffield and if there is one word that people associate with Sheffield it is steel. The city (then a mere town) was known to produce knives in the 14th century, and by 1600 it had become the Centre for cutlery manufacture in England. In the 1740s, a form of the crucible steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of better-quality steel than had previously been available, and this innovation spurred the growth of Sheffield as an industrial town. It was not long after - in 1760 - when the foundations of one of the city's best-known firms, and one synonymous with steel; Spear & Jackson, were laid.
Over 260 years later Spear & Jackson now offers the most comprehensive range of gardening hand tools available in the UK, catering for all levels of gardening expertise and budget with tools for the professional gardener and the occasional hobbyist. This includes an FSC-certified collection of tools in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
Its commitment to continuous research, design and innovation ensures that Spear & Jackson hand tools maintain their reputation as the Tools to Trust in the world of gardening and growing.
The Kew Gardens Collection
For the last 12 years Spear and Jackson has worked in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to create the Kew Gardens Collection, a range of over 100 premium quality digging, cultivating, and cutting tools. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, Kew has the largest and most diverse botanical collection in the world including a living collection of 30 thousand different types of plants and over 7 million preserved plant specimens.
It was this relationship with Kew which spurred Spear & Jackson to first look into FSC certification to uphold Kew’s conservation values. It has subsequently led to the development of the Company’s Supply Chain commitment to putting environmental concern at the heart of its operations and strategy.
Today all the handles on the tools in the Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection are made from the finest ash wood sourced from well managed forests. In addition, following the lead set by the Kew Gardens Collection, Spear & Jackson is in the process of rolling out an FSC print policy across all its packaging and catalogues.
Whilst there is some incremental cost associated with FSC sourcing, the Company has found that this is much outweighed by the benefits of holding FSC certification. It acts as a tangible demonstration of the Company’s environmental policy and is increasingly useful when developing and maintaining business relationships where FSC certification is now often a mandatory requirement. Being able to demonstrate ethical sourcing is also of growing importance to organisations like the Royal Horticultural Society who have strict Chain of Custody compliance polices as part of the conditions for exhibiting at shows such as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Spear & Jackson UK Marketing Manager, Karen Abbott says “The Company remains committed to grow with FSC and to drive improvements to sustainability across all areas of the business”.
Discover The Kew Gardens Collection, and find your nearest stockist.