Silver Lady works with freelance artists and modellers to create sculptures and commemorative pieces for British Army regiments.

Some mark tours of duty and campaigns, while others – like a table centrepiece created for the Yorkshire Regiment – honour servicemen who have died in conflicts. Recent pieces have included:

Silver bugles presented to bereaved families of soldiers serving in the Army’s largest infantry regiment, The Rifles.

A scale model of the gun carriage which carried the Queen Mother’s coffin, for the Royal Horse Artillery.

A model of the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers sergeants’ mess, at Trenchard Barracks, in Celle, Germany – a base which closed earlier this year.

The firm believes it is the only company outside London and the south to be entrusted with this type of work by the Army.

Managing director Rick Jennings, who regularly visits Army bases around the world, says: “It is a source of immense pride to me that a company in Barnsley, not Bond Street, is involved in upholding a military tradition that goes back centuries and honours those who serve their country.

“We’ve played a part in capturing many key moments and campaigns in the history of the British Army and continue to do so with 150 contracts under commission at any one time.

“In addition we do a lot of valuation work and keep the Army’s existing collections of silverware – among the best in the world – in pristine condition by overseeing repairs.”

Now, thanks to help from business support agency Enterprising Barnsley, Silver Lady is planning to mark the 40th anniversary of its founding by Rick’s late parents Eric and June, by targeting the corporate market.

Enterprising Barnsley has helped Silver Lady to develop a computerised customer relationship management system and improve marketing and human resources.

“We were a paper-based company and that was holding us back,” says Rick Jennings.

“Enterprising Barnsley has helped us to transform the way we work.

“We’ve grown over the past year despite tough trading conditions and we couldn’t have achieved this without support. I believe we are very well placed to have an equally good year next year as we now make efforts to tap into the corporate market.”