Sharon Yates, a 56-year-old potter at Dunoon in Staffordshire, can place a handle on a china cup in just four seconds and produce over 4,000 mugs per shift. A GMB union rep with 34 years at the firm, she says: “I’m a potter through and through. My great grandmother, gran, mum and dad all worked in ceramics. So does my granddaughter Madi and daughter-in-law Leian. It’s in our blood. That’s why I fight for the industry and for its people. I fight for the pots and I won’t give up.”
Industry Decline and Factory Closures
The UK ceramics industry has been hit hard by soaring energy prices, the impact of Brexit, cheap imports, and changing consumer habits. Earlier this month, Denby Pottery, founded in 1809 by William Bourne, fired its last pots after 217 years of operation. The family firm began producing utilitarian stoneware in Derbyshire and later diversified into ornamental ware and oven-to-table stoneware. In a Facebook post, the company cited rising energy and labour costs as factors in its demise and thanked customers and former employees, stating: “Centuries of making pottery at Denby may be coming to a close, but the love and soul poured into each piece will live on.” Administrators are currently seeking a buyer.
In February 2025, Royal Stafford, founded 180 years ago, closed its Burslem site, though its assets were later bought by Cornishware. Production was also paused for 90 days last September at the Wedgwood factory near Stoke-on-Trent, an area once known as the global capital of ceramic manufacturing. Today, only around 30 ceramics factories remain in Stoke-on-Trent, down from 200 in the 1970s.
Historical Context and Skill Loss
Ceramics history expert Prof Neil Brownsword from the University of Staffordshire notes: “At its height in the 1940s, ceramics employed almost 80,000 people - pottery factories dominated the industrial landscape in and around Stoke-on-Trent.” The industry began in the 1700s with porcelain imports from China and the fashion for tea drinking brought by King Charles II’s Portuguese wife. North Staffordshire’s coal and clay fuelled the industry, and mechanisation later boosted productivity. By the mid-1990s, decline set in as TV dinners and eating out reduced demand for traditional dinner services, replaced by cheaper imports.
Impact of Cheap Imports and Brexit
Sharon Yates highlights “China dumping,” where work is taken abroad and then stamped ‘made in England’ and sold cheaply. She warns: “Something which isn’t made here shouldn’t bear that stamp. It might not meet UK safety standards, either. A pot might look pretty on the outside, but what is on the inside? Fakeware is another problem. People copy our ceramics and sell them online.” Brexit has also caused red tape delays that increase manufacturing costs.
Energy Costs and Government Support
Soaring energy prices, driven by global conflicts, have hit the industry hardest. According to the GMB, UK ceramics firms pay £875m a year in energy, an increase of more than £330m since 2020. Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £120 million support package for the ceramics industry as part of a larger effort to cut electricity bills for energy-intensive manufacturers. She expressed a desire to “back British companies to succeed” and find a future for “iconic firms like Denby,” which closed on June 4.
Colin Griffiths, GMB senior organiser for the Potteries and Stoke-On-Trent, welcomed the move but stressed more work is needed: “British ceramics are the envy of the world. Wedgewood, Royal Stafford, Denby were by-words for excellence. After decades of warnings being ignored by successive governments, finally this government has sat up and listened. But the government must also be realistic about what this says about British industry. The challenges of energy prices must be tackled head on.”
Preserving Skills and the Future
Prof Brownsword, a former Wedgwood apprentice, emphasises the need to preserve traditional skills: “Once a factory goes, all that knowledge which has been honed over hundreds of years starts to disappear. I think the craft that’s involved in ceramics is massively overlooked.” He advocates for investment in apprenticeships and a blend of tradition and technology, as seen in Chinese ceramics manufacturers where “16 year old kids hand paint stuff - tradition and technology going hand in hand.”
Sharon Yates remains determined: “From cups in cupboards to components in aerospace, technology and defence, ceramics are everywhere. The cash injection is brilliant but there is still a long way to go. I want a future for ceramics, not just a proud past.”
