Company’s ironwork features in TV soap

Wall lights made by Nigel Tyas ironwork have been installed in the refurbished Woolpack pub in the ITV soap Emmerdale.

The hand-crafted Swaine wall lights, which can be seen next to the till in the Emmerdale pub, and the set of Shepherds Crook fireside irons were made at the firm’s workshop at Bullhouse Mill, Millhouse Green, near Penistone. The company, which is run by husband and wife team Nigel Tyas and Elizabeth Stocker, still makes ironwork in the traditional way.

The company is attracting global clients by using its website.

It has got customers in Japan and the Falkland Islands. Closer to home, the firm has supplied chandeliers to Hotter Shoes shops, including the store at Meadowhall. It has also supplied chandeliers for a castle in Copenhagen and Leeds Castle in Kent.

Nigel Tyas ironwork was set up in 2000 after Mr Tyas lost his job as an engineering blacksmith.

The company started off in a tiny garage in Penistone and has grown gradually over the years and now employs 10 people.

Mr Tyas said the business was not just about making money.

He said: “We want to keep alive a traditional way of making ironwork and keep an old craft going in this country.

“Manufacturing in China would probably be cheaper, but doing it this way maintains the tradition and means we keep control of the quality.”

The company is being backed by Enterprising Barnsley, with specialist support from business coach John Heckingbottom and marketing specialist Judith Hutchinson.

Enterprising Barnsley is a business support programme which helps businesses with high growth potential. It has helped to create more than 500 jobs in the borough.