Perfect Pieces Specialists in British Pottery

The sorry tale of Wedgwood’s demise continues with news today that 367 jobs are being cut, mostly from its Barlaston, Stoke plant in the UK.

Full details here and here.

In my recent article on the demise of Wedgwood, I suggested that to become successful again, the company would need more than a mere buyer. Instead, improvements in innovation and marketing would be required.

It seems that I am not alone in that view. Several newspapers have covered the story, with headlines such as “Wedgwood may be deadwood now, but it’s been broken for a long time” (Globe and Mail, Canada).

The New York Times has also got in on the story with “Wedgwood is going bankrupt because it forgot the lessons of its founder“.

Finally, a contribution from The Guardian: “How the display cabinet killed Wedgwood“.

Sad though it is, there were undoubtedly some problems with Wedgwood’s business. Whether these can be truly resolved by a buyer will be interesting to see. Let’s hope so.

As I predicted in my last post on Wedgwood, the company looks likely to be bought out of administration, according to the BBC. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the interested party is an American private equity firm called KPS Capital.

I say unsurprisingly because the largest part of Waterford Wedgwood’s market is the USA. The deal looks likely to include most of the Waterford Wedgwood group – presumably including its three main brands, Waterford, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton.

KPS Capital appear to be a ‘distressed specialist’ fund – sometimes less flatteringly described as a vulture fund – who specialise in buying companies with financial problems. The upshot of this is that they will get the company for a very keen price – but if no one else bids against them, that seems fair, really.

According to The Times, the proposed deal with KPS is likely to leave its two main investors in recent years, Sir Anthony O’Reilly and Peter Goulandris, around £360m out of pocket.

There is no word yet on whether Waterford Wedgwood’s 1,900 UK employees would keep their jobs. However, even before going into administration Wedgwood were planning further outsourcing of ceramics production, so it seems likely that any new owner would do the same – if not more.

The majority of Wedgwood and Royal Doulton production has already been moved overseas and takes place in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the company employs 1,500 people on production.

If you’ve heard the news about Wedgwood pottery and have wondered what kind of things they have produced over the last two centuries then why not take a look at our Wedgwood Pottery section?

Many many pottery marks were used by the Wedgwood pottery over the decades, you can view a few in our Identifying Pottery Marks section – click here. Here we have illustrated those stamps we’ve come across along with a short description on what they were used for and when they were used.

We currently have a wide range of Wedgwood Keith Murray pieces ranging from the affordable and highly desirable tankards to the large and impressive decorative items such as the Shoulder Vases and the Open Shoulder Vases.

Typically Art Deco Keith Murray designs are impressive, decorated in subtle tones and clear glazes they certainly depict the era in which they were designed.

So, we’ll all have to wait and see what finally happens with the Wedgwood brand. Hopefully, something that will continue successfully for many many more decades.

Wedgwood should have been planning its 250th birthday celebrations this year. Instead, its parent company Waterford Wedgwood has today called in the administrators to the Barlaston, Stoke-based company.

Founded by Josiah Wedgwood in 1759, Wedgwood has been responsible for some of the finest ceramics ever made in the UK and is a byword for quality and innovation.

Or at least it was.

As Jorn Madslien comments in his article on the BBC website, Wedgwood has for too long been trading on former glories without really doing anything innovative.

Production of most wares has been outsourced to Indonesia in recent years – where the company employs around three times the number of people it employs in the UK. The problem is that sales of traditional fine china dining ware have been falling steadily.

Why? At a guess, the culture of ultra-cheap, Asian imports, Ikea and laptop dining in front of the television.

Fine china dinner wares don’t really fit in, do they?

Economic conditions haven’t helped either. The Euro’s strength against the US dollar and the lack of availability of debt refinancing have hit the company hard over the last year, perhaps tipping the balance and bringing us to today’s announcement.

What Next?

Wedgwood has a brand that is undoubtedly still valuable. I am sure it will be successfully sold, with or without its accompanying factories. The question is can anyone find something innovative and profitable to do with it – and is it still relevant at all?

A visit to the newly-reopened Wedgwood Museum reveals just how high a standard any new owners should seek to aspire to. It’s a tough challenge and one that I would not envy. Part of me feels that the time for such wares has simply passed.

Worse still, part of me feels that no likely investor will have the foresight or imagination to find a genuine, innovative solution for the future – and instead will seek to milk the value of the brand by continuing to produce more of the same. Rather like what’s happened to Poole Pottery.

What do you think?

As if the news of 346 impending redundancies wasn’t bad enough, the Wedgwood factory suffered an expensive break-in on Friday, with an estimated £180,000 of wares stolen.

A considerable number of Wedgwood and Royal Doulton Prestige wares were stolen (Royal Doulton is part of the Wedgwood group).

You can read full details here, including a list of the most valuable items stolen.

Naturally, be suspicious if you are offered any of these pieces at unusually low prices in the near future…

Struggling Stoke potter Wedgwood has confirmed that 346 jobs will be axed at its Barlaston factory.

According to this local newspaper report, 150 workers volunteered for redundancy but almost 200 more will now face compulsory redundancy.

Waterford Wedgwood PLC (of which Wedgwood is part) has been trying and failing to successfully refinance its considerable debts for some time and Wedgwood itself is not expected to make a profit in the near future.

The redundancies, which represent around 35% of its 1,000 Staffordshire workforce, will be phased in throughout the next year.

For more details, click here.

On 24th October 2008 the Wedgwood Museum will finally open in Barlaston, Stoke- on-Trent, after a 10 year absence. The museum has cost round £10.5 million to build and will be home to 1,000′s of artefacts

For more information visit:

www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk

Our latest addition to our Wedgwood Keith Murray selection is an impressive Keith Murray Moonstone Shoulder vase.

As you can see, this is a large, imposing vase and was one of the larger shapes designed by Keith Murray during his time at Wedgwood. Standing at just over 11″ tall, it is an excellent example of the fresh, contemporary style Murray brought to Wedgwood in the 1930s. Looking back now, it is difficult to appreciate just how modern and contemporary Keith Murray’s designs were when compared to the more traditional wares also being produced by the company at the time.

For further details about this Keith Murray Shoulder vase and the Keith Murray Open Shoulder vase we also have please – click here.

In our Wedgwood section we have just added an unusual piece of Keith Murray – a green apple shaped powder bowl and cover.

This piece is only 4.5″ in diamter and makes a rather unsual addition to a collection of Keith Murray items! Both the lid and base of the pot are fully marked with the Wedgwood and Keith Murray script marks.

The New Zealander Keith Murray brought fresh and contemporary designs to Wedgwood and is hugely collected today. The smaller items such as the tankard are always a good starting point for collections. They were produced in such a wide range of colours and shapes they’re almost never ending!

If you’d rather start off with the bigger items then the Shoulder vase or Open Shoulder vase always make stunning additions. The Open Shoulder vase is shape number 3842 and stands an impressive 9.5″ tall.

Whichever shape or colour you decide to collect Keith Murray remains simple yet stylish and can be purely for display or indeed can be used as any household object if you should choose!