Harrison Fisher - Taylor's Eye Witness

THE COMPANY
Sheffield bassed manufacturer Taylor’s Eye Witnes Then called Harrison Fisher is a Knife and cuttlure company that is renowned for its quality
THE PROBLEM
Taylor's Eye Witness was facing a growing threat from cut-price competitors in the Far East after the death of designer Robert Welch with whom it had worked for thirty years.

Taylor's Eye Witness had become vulnerable to increased competition from European producers – particularly those in Germany, which have an advantage of perceived superior quality and design – and from the Far East with its low costs.

Although Harrison Fisher had its own brand 'Taylor's Eye Witness'
much of its business came from providing supermarkets and department stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury and John Lewis with own label products. However, the supermarkets ability to source cheap own label products from the Far East meant that the company’s business was slowly disappearing.

‘When Robert died, our design input died with him. We knew that we had a weakness in design. We knew that things were changing in the world and that we had to do something about it, but we weren’t sure what to do,’ says Fisher.

THE RESPONSE

Was to join Designing Demand Immerse, a strategic design advice and business growth service run as part of the Design Council’s Designing Demand programme. This would provide a team of top designers led by a mentor and would suggest a course of action.

*Rebranding and
*Improved product design

These were needed to establish new markets
The new range and brand have also helped the company move towards becoming an independent consumer brand name with its own sophisticated, design-led products, rather than being predominantly an 'own-brand' supplier. ‘Ultimately,’ Fisher says, ‘I want to be in a position where if the retailers don't want us to do private label it's not a crisis.’

RESULT
Before and after
With new branding, packaging and products, Harrison Fisher has turned a corner. It has invested approximately £80,000 in design and it's core business now focuses on high quality, well designed products from cutting edge experts.

There sales have increased by over £800,000