In 1964 I worked for a short while at Barker Ellis which was Barker Brothers and Ellis and Co combined. Their showroom, which was huge, was packed full of the most beautiful silver, some was plate, some was pure silver. Ellis & Co had a small office tucked away in a corner of this very large building, I believe they dealt in antique silver and Sheffield plate, but I may not be fully correct there. It was an interesting place to work, and because as a junior I had to deliver the post to all the different departments, I got to see a lot that mosty office workers didn't. The most astonishing thing for me was that in the plating shop there were large vats of cyanide with wires across the top, onto which were suspended goods awaiting plating. There were wires trailing everywhere, the floor got wet, it was an accident waiting to happen, but I guess that was the way in those days. It struck me as dangerous then, and I was only 17.