The administrators, PwC, have already made 40 people redundant but say that all production is continuing as usual and that they do not anticipate any further job losses at present.

Clearly some changes are needed to restore its profitability but to be fair, Royal Worcester have for years been battling against the popular shift away from formal dining to more informal eating habits that don’t require fine china.

Although I sympathise with Royal Worcester’s plight, and more so with that of its employees, some of whom may now be out of work over Christmas, you have to wonder if Worcester has lost its way a little over recent years.

What on earth convinced them that a range of mugs called ‘Life is Crap‘ was a good idea?

The business is currently operating as usual and Royal Worcester is currently having a massive stock clearance at its factory shop in Worcester – so there may be some bargains to be had at present. Full details here.

The Stoke-based pottery announced the redundancies back in November and on the 1st June the first of 250 factory workers left the pottery for the final time.

Full details from the BBC here.