Supporting British Industry & Craftsmanship
The company is part of Sheffield’s steel heritage and has been making handmade surgical instruments including bone-cutters, clamps, forceps and retractors for the past fifty years.
An independent, second generation family business, Platts & Nisbett have been hand crafting surgical instruments since 1977. It is renowned for its high quality standards, combining traditional hand skills with modern technology. Their craftsmen individually make each instrument to an exceptional standard, serving NHS and private sector hospitals across the UK as well as customers worldwide. Due to the delicate nature of the instruments required - such as the teeth on a surgeon's clamp for a vessel, hand tools are used to achieve the precision and detail needed.
These skills are in a critical state. Surgical instrument-making is on the Heritage Craft’s red list of endangered skills. The team at Platts & Nisbett is acutely aware that the craft will be lost if knowledge is not passed down. They offer apprenticeships, but they’re expensive for the company.
"I was keen to tell this story once I learned that 'surgical-instrument making' was on the Red List of endangered skills. I approached the Wellcome Collection who commissioned the article for their Photo Stories section. Not only did it highlight the unbelievable skills required to make these instruments but the intricate nature of the instruments themselves. Some of the clamps are used by surgeons working on baby's hearts - the size of a strawberry - therefore the quality of the teeth is vital. They must intermesh perfectly so the instrument can clamp the blood vessel and stop the flow, without causing damage. The tension of the instrument is done by hand, and the instrument must feel smooth and close progressively on each catch. No wonder it takes five years for the staff to complete their apprenticeship." Carmel King photographed Platts & Nisbett in May 2025 for the Wellcome Collection, words by Steven Duke.
