“Andrew Mountford, Hong Kong
Make your money while you can in Hong Kong and Asia , someday sooner rather than later these economies will collapse too when the little man in the factories wakes up to being ripped off and exploited by the likes of your kind . You know to be so smug about living out there on the backs of workers being paid $150 a month, working in those sweatshops is tantamount to modern day slave trading, hope your proud of your self, the people of Stoke on Trent don't want to be preached at by the likes of you.”

“Andrew Mountford from Hong Kong you are wrong. Of course we buy shoes, toys, clothes from the far east and don¿t care where they come from, and of course we could buy cheap china from anywhere in the world. But why do people pay for Gucci, or Versace? They want Italian leather and quality production and are willing to pay a premium for it. If LMVH took over Wedgwood it would be a good thing. They have expertise in marketing high end luxury goods and would appreciate the craftsman and skills required and the monetary value of each little piece of English History that is purchased with each dinner service. Until the recent crash the luxury goods market has expanded by over 1000% in the last 10 years, people are willing to pay for one off luxury items.
The super rich and famous buy Wedgwood just as Josiah intended in the 1700¿s when he got Queen Charlotte to let him call his dinner service Queens Ware. Suddenly the aristocracy had to have the same dinner service as the Queen. Like then like now. The world¿s middle classes aspire to own this same piece of luxury, something that will last for ever. This marketing worked in the 18th and 19th century and surely in the 21st century with the massive culture of celebrity almost completely dominating consumerism in both Asia and the West you don¿t believe that the Wedgwood excellence in design and innovation coupled with Wedgwood history cannot be a success? I wonder if Obama will use Wedgwood in the White House?”

“There is little if any doubt if any that companies and workers in the 'Far East' or eastern Europe can make a very similar if not the same quality as products made in Stoke. This is a simple fact and get used to it. Don't suppose that Stoke factories never produced bad quality product.
There are no skills in Stoke or ceramic processes that can not be replicated elsewhere.
Unfortunately the numbers of people in the world prepared to pay high prices for a 'brand' of tableware specifically made in Stoke are not sufficient to keep a company running of the size of WW with all of the legacy costs WW has / had.
All of you loudly proclaiming that no one will buy a product with a backstamp advising 'Not Made in Stoke' should do well to look at where you purchase all of the products you buy & where you buy them. How many of you know where your shoes were made? How many of you chose to buy non-branded products in a discount or low cost store? How many of you can name a carpet manufacturer?
I can not offer a solution to this problem for WW - I think that the brand can only survive if it is part of a group of brands in much the same way as LVMH operates. For otherwise the people that do buy branded tableware can still buy Narumi, Noritake or such and can buy ware already in stock.
When I moved to Asia in '95 to work for a supplies company my then boss said 'In 10 years time Stoke [for ceramics] will be a working museum'. I honestly wonder if it will even be that.”

“This is a genuine shame for the local area. The potteries with hardly a small direct link to any pottery firms now as all the major contributors to the cities name have disappeared.

I think that the council should be ashamed that they have allowed this to happen really as what will be known for in the future, a derilict city centre and a stupid mulitmillion pound mosque???

However it is quite easy to see that most Brands are not transparent to the current global financial climate.

However, with most industries they will boom and eventually go bust. The height of the pottery industry was in the past in history when wedgewood was actually alive, with the rise of the canal systems just look at all the old buildings and factories that were along the side of the canal. Twyford for example etc and when Britain was know as a manufacturing power and global power. This is no longer the case and so which businesses will fall by the wayside.

The power of this country has been diluted by the adoption of the freeloader approach , The I'm alright jack attitude that many British people now have and also people coming into this country.

However as well as the above the power for manufacturing has moved abroad. After all businesses are a profits based business and one way of maximising those is reducing costs.

However nothing was done and is seeing to be done to help ensure that this cities economy and employment levels thrive.

All this focus on the city centre will eventually lead to nothing as the people in charge of the council only do one thing and that is to look after themselves before the people of this city, and its future.

Im not saying to try and keep afloat a dying industry because that will eventually lead to what happen today but more can and should have been done to attract companies to try and deploy unemployed skilled workers.

We are now very much focused on service industries, which i for one currently work in. It is a shame to say that we are a declined manufacuring nation and shame that people are losing their jobs.

I feel like the economy and unemployment in this country is going to get alot worser before it gets better. I worry for the likes of Bentley and JCB.”

“I have to blame the management..far too many SKU's, top-heavy with managers, (I report to FOUR in the same Dept!) making products that dont sell, not making the ones that do ! spending an absolute fortune on London offices etc etc .Ms Gavin has never been seen on the shopfloor to my knowledge, and as for the earlier remark about Nutbeen, WW sacked him before doulton took him on!”