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China & Earthenware Market Report Plus 2010
Key Note Publications Ltd, May 2010, Pages: 95
The china and earthenware market is one of the UK's most traditional manufacturing industries, renowned throughout the world for its craftsmanship and design skills. Brands, some of which date back to the 1700s, are respected and sought after worldwide. However, many a UK company involved in the manufacture of ceramics has found it impossible to compete at the volume end of the market and there have been numerous liquidations, closures and job losses in recent years, while some production has been moved to low-cost countries.
For some years, Market Report Plus on China & Earthenware has questioned whether, by outsourcing production overseas, British pottery was scoring a spectacular own-goal, betraying the very heritage that is one of its greatest assets. Indeed, it seems this has been the case, with companies such as Churchill China and Portmeirion bringing some production back to the UK, while Emma Bridgewater, which prides itself on manufacturing solely in the UK, has flourished. A pride in the industry's heritage has never been more evident than now, especially in the heartland of British pottery — Stoke-on-Trent. One entrepreneur, Hugh Padley, a vociferous advocate of keeping pottery manufacturing in North Staffordshire, as opposed to outsourcing it to cheaper economies, has said: `We are told it is cheaper to outsource the Potteries product from the Far East. But the facts are that every pottery company, regardless of size, that has had a substantial amount of its product manufactured overseas has gone bankrupt or into administration. If it was cheaper, why did this not reflect in the profits of the companies? Why do those potteries who do not have the majority of their product outsourced survive the downturn?' As the city now named Stoke-on-Trent celebrates its centenary of the Federation of the Six Towns, many will rejoice at the return of some pottery production to its heartland.
Recent corporate activity has included the 200 year-old Denby Pottery's fall into administration in early 2009. It was subsequently rescued in a management buyout (MBO), but with the loss of some jobs and its new management has not ruled out moving production overseas to lower-cost countries. In a major shock to the industry, Waterford Wedgwood went into administration, to be sold to the New York-based private-equity company KPS Capital Partners in February 2009. A year on and the company's fortunes seem to be improving, with the announcement of investment in Stoke-on-Trent, workers being awarded with their first pay rise in 6 years, its first major global advertising campaign in 5 years, a raft of new product launches and a return to the Spring Fair. Waterford Wedgwood has also been awarded the licence to produce official commemorative items to mark the UK's hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games.
As the UK tentatively exits the longest and toughest recession in many years, it is hoped that its renowned pottery industry has been through the worst. Sales of china and earthenware tableware and ornamental ware, which have been static at best, will recover slowly. One result of the recent turbulent trading times has been a tendency by retailers and manufacturers to keep inventories down so that the market is not saturated with surplus stocks that have to be heavily discounted. While it is inevitable that the UK ceramics manufacturing industry faces more difficulties ahead, it remains a vibrant one, leaner and ready to rise to the challenge.
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