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About Salter
Company History
In 1760 a family of
four brothers named Salter lived in Bilston.
One of the brothers, William, was
responsible for creating pocket steelyards –
small weighing devices. One day, his brother
Richard fashioned a spring out of an old
file and incorporated it into the steelyard.
From his humble roots as a ‘spring maker’
Richard Salter went on to found the Salter
company, and the spring activated pocket
steelyards became the forerunners of a
multitude of different weighing machines.
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In 1775, Richard Salter moved to West
Bromwich where he continued to
manufacture springs and spring
balances. The business subsequently
passed through several generations of
the Salter family.
In 1838, George Salter obtained a
patent for the ‘spring balance of
spring weighing apparatus, with a
method of indicating the weights by
means of an index and scale of
divisions marked on the exterior of a
tube either curved or plane sided.’
George Salter spent much of the period
from 1883 – 1886 in Germany, trying to
establish a market for Salter
products. Having invented the first
pocket steelyard, Salter went on to
make every sort of spring balance, for
both domestic and trade use. |
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In the 1920’s, trade in English spring
balances was seriously threatened by the
large-scale import of cheap, inaccurate
balances from abroad. Salter took the
matter up with the Weights & Measures
Board of Trade, pointing out that this was
a highly specialised trade. Since Salter
manufactured more than 90% of English
balances at that time, and these were of
proven reliability and quality, they
argued that cheap and inaccurate imports
would destroy business.
Today, Salter continues to abide by the
requirements of the Weights & Measures
organisation, ensuring that all of its
products are of the utmost accuracy.
Salter was responsible for employing 800
employees before World War 1. By the mid
1950’s, this figure had more than doubled
to 2000 employees.
Salter continues to be the brand and
market leader of kitchen and bathroom
scales. From the original 18th century
springs, used to make basic balances,
right through to 1995, when they devised
the AQUATRONIC™ electronic kitchen scale
which weighs liquids and dry ingredients,
Salter continues to invent and innovate.
Who knows what they will come up with over
the next 200 years!
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Supplier
base
Salter’s in-house designers create the
vast majority of their products
exclusively for Salter. Their products
are well known for their unique style,
innovative design and high quality.
All Salter’s products are manufactured
in the Far East under the tight
quality control of the UK operations
and technical departments in
Tonbridge.
Customer
Base
Salter boasts widespread global
distribution and has presence in
almost every major retail group,
catalogue, wholesaler, cash+carry or
independent in the UK. |
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Quality Control
Salter’s high quality is the basis of
its brand reputation. Even though the
products are manufactured in the Far East,
they are checked by highly trained and
qualified staff in the UK during and after
the manufacturing process.
Product
Range
Salter products cover every budget
without ever compromising on high quality.
All products are backed with manufacturers’
guarantees, most of which are up to 10
years.
Interesting
Facts and Figures
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The
company began in the late 1700’s by
making ‘pocket steelyards’ a scale similar
to the fisherman’s scales of today.
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Richard
Salter’s nephew George took over the
company in 1825 and the company became
known as George Salter & Co.
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Salter
also offered their staff a works football
team, from which developed into the
club known today as West Bromwich Albion!
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