unLTD spoke to MEPS International founder, Peter Fish, to find out how a decision not to move to Birmingham in 1979 led to the formation of a company that has become one of the market leaders in international steel market analysis…
In the mid to late ’70s, Peter Fish was rapidly climbing the ladder of Sheffield’s world-renowned steel industry and was already one of the youngest directors at stainless steel manufacturers Firth Vickers. But unbeknownst to him at the time, his career was about to take an unexpected turn.
“It happened right out of the blue,” says Peter. “The chairman of the group came to me and said, ‘You’re moving and taking the Birmingham factory.’
“I thought, well, I’m not going to Birmingham, so I told the bosses this, and they said, ‘You know what’s going to happen if you don’t?’ I did and I was quite happy with that because I knew one thing: I was not going to Birmingham!
“I was proud, in a way, because I’d been offered such an opportunity at a relatively young age, but nevertheless, it wasn’t for me. My life and my family were all in Sheffield.
“I decided to do something for myself, and I thought to myself, what do I know about? I know about the steel industry because I’d worked in it, and I’d been a draftsman in my early years. I knew about management, I knew about engineering, and I knew about production, so the easiest thing was to start a business called Management, Engineering, and Production Services.
“That didn’t easily fit on a letterhead, so I decided to shorten it to MEPS.”
From there, Peter moved into consultancy work, before being introduced to the European Commission. At that time there were suspicions of price-fixing and Peter was tasked with auditing invoices of steel companies all across Europe.
“I travelled a lot, and I was given the power to go in and look at their invoices. They were required to show me, and I then compared those steel prices for the European Union.
“I visited all the steel companies in Europe. I don’t think I was well liked by many of the owners. I even think I frightened a few people!”
After collecting all of this data, and looking for his next project, Peter had the foresight to use this knowledge to create MEPS’s European Steel Review, which celebrated its 40-year anniversary this year.
“There were a few other companies providing steel prices. By that time, MEPS had already accumulated and analysed several years of steel price data and had made many contacts throughout Europe and I saw an opportunity to join that market, providing our own robust, reliable steel price data.”
By the late ’70s, traditional steel-making countries like the UK were being challenged by companies based in Asia, particularly China, and they were very price-competitive. Steel-consuming companies suddenly had the need for more information to inform their buying decisions, and MEPS’ European Steel Review quickly became very popular reading.
But, as the name suggests, the review initially only covered prices in Europe, and not all European countries that were producing steel were included in the first editions, leading to a further supplement being created for smaller steel-producing countries like Norway.
Following the success of these monthly reviews, MEPS then created the International Steel Review, followed by Stainless Steel Review and Developing Markets Steel Review, in the process taking on more and more researchers in Sheffield to make sure it provided market leading steel price data. The business expanded to become the market leader in Europe.
As well as Peter’s breadth of contacts in Europe from his time with the European Commission, it also helped that the business was based in Sheffield. Being based in a city so well known for its steel industry leant the business even more credibility.
“Sheffield was famous for creating good quality steel and was very influential,” explains Peter. “People knew Sheffield Steel all around the world, and people all around Europe got to know me and my background in the Sheffield Steel industry. Some of them might have thought, ‘Oh God, he’s coming again, mind!’
We’re very proud of being from Sheffield and all the years we’ve been in business we’ve always talked about Sheffield to people. In our own little way, we’ve spread the name of Sheffield.
“We also recruit from Sheffield and benefit from people’s lived experience of the steel industry. People in Sheffield are steeped in steel and can trust what we do because of that.”
These days, MEPS also works closely with other high-profile Sheffield organisations, being the main sponsor of Sheffield FC’s stadium and holding sponsorships with Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity. After adding a modern extension to its Glossop Road building, it has brightened up the area with the addition of a landmark mural by Sheffield artist Jo Peel.
The business has also been shortlisted for Sheffield’s Chamber of Commerce’s School of Excellence, in recognition of the health and well-being initiatives they have in place for their staff.
To this day, Peter remains involved with the company but has handed over the day-to-day running of the business to his daughter, Jayne Craven, and under her expert stewardship, the business continues to thrive.
“My knowledge of the industry gave me the opportunities,” says Peter. “I didn’t necessarily design all these things; companies sometimes just form like this, but I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved.”
