Perfect Pieces Specialists in British Pottery

The Times reports that Thomas R. Wedgwood, a direct descendent of Josiah Wedgwood, is putting together a bid to buy back Wedgwood into family ownership.

Apparently, the bid is being backed by Middle Eastern money (when is anything not, these days?) and is due to be submitted this week. It would entail a demerger from Waterford, turning Wedgwood back into an independent company.

The bid sounds attractive – perhaps more attractive than the other known bid from American equity fund KPS Capital, which The Times says apparently left the Wedgwood family “ignited with worry” about the future of the Wedgwood brand and its British employees.

Thomas Wedgwood was until recently Wedgwood’s Asia Director and believes that Asia should be seen as a lucrative potential market, rather than simply a cheap manufacturing base. According to The Times, the latter strategy is a “one-way route to oblivion”. 37% of Wedgwood sales are currently generated in Asia, but Mr. Wedgwood believes this has the potential to rise as high as 60%.

Thomas Wedgwood believes that the company’s products need to become “just inaccessible enough to be aspirational” – turning Wedgwood back into a true luxury brand. It’s an idea that many fans of the company (including me) will probably empathise with but I don’t know how successful it would be.

Time will tell.

I’ve just come across an interesting article on the BBC website highlighting how Wedgwood’s large, modern factory near Jakarta, Indonesia, could aid its sale.

The factory is purpose built, modern, pleasant to work in and provides welfare facilities for its 1,500 staff. These include a free medical clinic, one free meal per day, a football pitch and a mosque. It’s eerily familiar in a way – this is exactly the type of thing that some of the more enlightend British factory owners did for their employees in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Consequently, the factory has absenteeism and annual staff turnover figures that are both close to 1%, despite not paying as much as some other employers in the area.

Read the full article here.

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?

If you’re looking for a pottery vase that’s impressive in both size and design, then take a look at this small selection of what we at Perfect Pieces currently have for sale.

Stylish in design and reputation, Wedgwood’s Keith Murray’s pieces are becoming more collectable as people are looking for modern pieces to suit their modern lifestyles. We currently have this stunning Keith Murray designed Shoulder Vase for sale in our Wedgwood pottery section.

Standing just over 11″ tall, it’s an impressive piece and is decorated in the classic Moonstone white glaze. The modern design of this vase allows it to sit happily in any surroundings – especially modern homes. Click here for further details.

If you’re looking for something more colourful, then why not take a look at this vibrant Crown Ducal Ware vase?

This large Crown Ducal Ware ovoid vase stands just over 10″ tall, has a ribbed body that has been decorated with a bright stylised flower-head pattern. It would fit even the largest bunch of flowers! For further pictures and information – click here.

Another interesting and unusual piece is this stoneware Ruskin pottery vase. Known for the quality and innovation of its glazes, Ruskin was a leading British art pottery in the early 20th century, but its wares were only ever produced in relatively limited numbers.

This extremely heavy Ruskin stoneware vase has been decorated in tones of blue and grey and stands approximately 9″ tall. With a light speckled decoration this Ruskin vase is simple in pattern and design but like all Ruskin, is beautifully proportioned and benefits from a fantastic glaze. Click here for further pictures.

I hope this examples will provide you with some inspiration and a few ideas as to what’s available. Do remember if you have any questions or are looking for a specific item then do let us know to see if we can help.

Looking for a gift for someone with a modern home, and lost at what to buy? Why not take a look at some of Wedgwood’s Keith Murray’s creations?

Although created and designed in the 1930s to the 1950s the sleek modern designs of Keith Murray could easily be a creation from today. With prices ranging from £40 upwards there’s something for everyone’s budget. See some examples of our current Keith Murray designs below and click any image for further details:

All our pieces of Wedgwood Keith Murray ware are currently on sale with 5% off ALL list prices until Christmas Eve 2008 AND include FREE UK postage and packaging by Royal Mail Special Delivery so if you’re late getting that last minute gift don’t be worried delivery is guaranteed next working day by 1pm!

Click here to view our collection of Wedgwood Keith Murray pieces.

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…