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how it started
Our Legacy
Our legacy is rooted in Sheffield, England—a city that has held its reputation as the cutlery center of the world for centuries. Our over 100 year history of machine knife manufacture actually stretches back even further, to 1745, when the first Wolstenholme cutlery products were made.
1745
The House of Wolstenholme cutlery enterprise was started by the first George Wolstenholme. George, assisted by his son Henry, built a small but satisfactory business in a village outside of Sheffield. When George passed away, Henry took over the business.
1757
Henry Wolstenholme was a clever and intuitive cutler, being one of the first producers of pocket knives. Henry’s pocket knives had blades that worked on a spring, and Henry applied for and obtained the right to use the word “spring” as a trademark.
Perseverance
1803
After Henry’s death, his son George continued the business and moved it to Sheffield. The new location would be named Rockingham Works, producing mostly razors and penknives. At that time, George decided to shorten his surname to “Wostenholm” as a way to fit the name on the small penknives.
1843
Fourth generation George Wostenholm acquired The Pipe trade mark – the oldest cutlery trademark on the Register of the Sheffield Cutlers’ Company. This was added to the I*XL mark (dating back to 1797, acquired in 1826) and the Tally-Ho mark. These marks were a visual representation for one of his guiding principles—to maintain the quality of his knives and enhance the reputation of Sheffield cutlery.
1848
George, looking to expand his business, bought the Washington Works factory site, where the business was carried on until 1945. At the time, Washington Works was considered to be the last word in factory design and was amongst the first large cutlery works in Sheffield, working on factory lines.
Dedication
1908
The legacy started by the first George Wolstenholme was continued in 1908 when Thomas Gilbert Wolstenholme established Wolstenholme Machine Knives, a factory functioning as a single source provider, developing strategic supply relationships with many of the leading manufacturers and knife companies throughout the UK and Europe.
1964
Seeing a large market with strong growth potential, Wolstenholme Machine Knives starts exporting to the United States.
1994
TGW International was established in the greater Cincinnati area as a subsidiary company to further expand North American sales.
Evolution
1998
The company continued its evolution forward as three different factory sites around Sheffield were consolidated into the new Clough Bank Works building.
2010
TGW Machine Knives Pvt Ltd was incorporated in Indore, India, and a brand new factory was built, with manufacturing beginning the following year. The advent of the Indore facility allowed the company to provide European craftsmanship at a more affordable cost to our customers.
2013
The various companies under the Wolstenholme Machine Knives banner are rebranded as the TGW Group, focusing on the TGW brand.
2018
In September, TGW International and Pearl Technologies become one company: EDGE Industrial Technologies. Combining TGW and Pearl is about bringing together two industry powerhouses to fuel topline growth. We have reached this critical milestone as a result of the hard work and dedication of generations of employees selling superior products around the world.
2021
The Sheffield facility is moved to a modern new production site on Atlas Way. The new site allows for the most modern manufacturing techniques to be employed in machine knife manufacturing.
