Royal plate-maker halts production as demand for fine china wanes

The Royal Household’s fine china supplier has paused production amid a slump in demand for opulent crockery.

Wedgwood, the almost 300-year-old British manufacturer, said it had temporarily paused operations at its factory in Barlaston, Staffordshire, blaming “lower demand in some of our key markets”.

Founded in 1759 by the potter Josiah Wedgwood, the business is one of Britain’s oldest companies. Its plates and crockery have been used in the Vatican, White House and Kremlin as well as the British Royal Household.

The company gained a Royal warrant in 1995 from the late Queen Elizabeth II, though the brand’s association with the Royals dates back much further: King George V visited its potteries in 1913.

Wedgwood dinnerware and tea sets cost hundreds of pounds in some cases, making them a marker of wealth and status.

Fine china is often passed between generations and has traditionally been displayed in glass-fronted cabinets and only used for esteemed guests.

However, demand for “good china” has been waning in recent years amid slowing growth in China, Japan and the US.

Sjoerd Leeflang, vice president of Wedgwood’s parent company Fiskars Group, said: “Those three markets … their economies are fairly unstable. Certainly in China … consumer demand for higher priced goods has just gone drastically down.”

He said the company had taken the decision to halt production as a “temporary measure” so as not to end up with a mountain of excess stock. It previously paused production during the pandemic.

Mr Leeflang added: “We’re not the only one. Any of the big fashion houses … everyone has been flagging challenges with their demand.”

The production pause will affect around 70 people who will continue to be paid in full until production resumes. Tours of the brand’s World of Wedgwood visitor centre have also been suspended.

Mr Leeflang said it was “sad” to have to pause production, but insisted it was a temporary measure.

He denied that fine china was going out of fashion with younger people, pointing to a rise in purchases of vintage ceramics in what he called “a move towards traditional”.

However, the production pause follows the collapse of some of Wedgwood’s contemporaries.

Earlier this year, the 180-year-old Royal Stafford collapsed into liquidation, causing the loss of around 70 jobs. This was blamed on soaring energy costs and a downturn in orders.

Mr Leeflang said Wedgwood had been affected by rising energy costs too and was forced to raise its prices as a result.

“The cost of energy since the energy crisis a couple of years ago has gone up for gas about 100pc and electricity for us about 30pc,” he said.

“If you fire a product, whether it’s a plate or cup or tea pot, it needs to be hours in a kiln at 1,400 degrees. If the price for that energy is significantly up, eventually we will need to find efficiencies and [push through] price increases just to make money.”

Josiah Wedgwood is credited with helping to professionalise Britain’s pottery industry, helping to make Staffordshire a world leader by the 19th century.

Mr Wedgwood also invented many of the materials and processes still used by the company today and is widely considered one of Britain’s earliest tycoons. He was the grandfather of Charles Darwin.

The company has been owned by Fiskars, a 376-year-old Finnish consumer goods company, since 2015 when it was bought in a $437m (£320m) deal.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]