Landmark for firm dating back 400 years

ONE OF Yorkshire’s oldest family-run businesses, which started life in Sheffield over 400 years ago, is celebrating two decades of producing sterile pouches that prevent the spread of infection in dental surgeries, hospitals, veterinary practices and tattoo clinics.

Granton Medical has been at the heart of cutting edge medical technology since it begin in 1601 and has survived two world wars, the bubonic plague, the Sheffield Blitz and 12 recessions.

The firm, based on Parkway Industrial Estate, is now run by the Kirkby family, who are direct descendants of company founders the Raggs. Over the years the Raggs manufactured cutlery, scissors, swords, and cut-throat razors, and the first safety razor produced in the UK in 1840. In 1929 it started making surgical blades before turning to sterile medical packaging, and is now celebrating 20 years as the UK’s largest volume manufacturer of self-seal sterilisation pouches.

Director Katie Kirkby said: “We never underestimate how important our product is to the healthcare industry – we are at the start of a crucial chain and by ensuring that our self-seal pouches work effectively we are reducing the likelihood of cross infection and spread of diseases.

“It’s incredible to think how long Granton Medical and its forebears have survived. Especially when you look back over the last four centuries and what we have withstood.

“Wars, revolutions, and in more recent times a sharp decline in the manufacturing industry.”