“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!”

“What I find difficult to understand is (according to the printed version of the sentinel) is plans to possibly transfer all production to indonisia and closing down the UK production factory. I thought in receivership meant (all) the company was in trouble! Also, I read that the directors of the company are considering these moves, again I thought the administators were supposed to be running the company now ?”

“There is a lot of pottery produced all around the world. The greatest asset of Wedgwood was it's history. To a lot of people, Stoke-on-Trent on the back of the plate carried with it a rich history. When you make the plates in Indonesia it is quite possible the quality could be even better (being well educated hard working people) however you lose that stamp and the weight of history. They cashed in the brand made their money.”

“As an employee of Waterford Crystal, I've followed the comments on the different Waterford Wedgwood stories that you have run, in particular the belief that Wedgwood would do better as a stand alone company and that the Waterford side of the buisness should be ditched. We have in fact being making the same call in Waterford. The take over of Wedgwood by Waterford in the 80's began the slow painful demise of what at that stage was the jewel in Irish manufacturing,from making profits of £16 to £18 million per year to a loss making concern almost overnight due to high interest payments on the money borrowed to purchase Wedgwood.Where as in the short term follow the takeover, Wedgwood kept Waterford afloat since the early nineties Waterford has consistently and at great cost to the terms and conditions of the workers in the Waterford plants carried Wedgwood.The Waterford side of the group has made profit over the last 5 years but this has been turned into a loss due to interest payments which we must pay to cover group debt.The policy of buying dead beat companies like Rosenthal and Royal Doulton has been a disaster for all the workers in the group,likewise the outsourcing of production of both crystal and china to low cost economies is and has been a disaster.No one will pay a premium price for a luxury product thats made in a low cost economy. We as a workforce have argued that outsourcing would ruin the Waterford brand but the management didn't and won't listen. I would contend that management have by there greed and recklessness destroyed 2 great and iconic companies but unfortunately they won't be the ones that pay the ultimate price.It will be the workers on the shop floor in both Ireland and England who will have that honour.”

“see the fat cat managers have got what they want again.The workers infighting,Now it not about what they have done but it about how we all get stoke regenerated and not any of them near the good things that are going to happen in the future.If we let them control it they will take big money out of it and we be in a worse position than we are in now.
The question we have to ask is whats left in stoke?
NHS
Council
Npower
vodaphone
Phones 4 U
few wherehouses
The co op group
I can see good money on the horizon for any one who loses there jobs in the pots
NOT AT ALL.
The fact is we have no infastrcture to replace 50 jobs let alone 1000”

“I worked in the pottery industry in various roles for nearly 20 years. It was a very satisfying industry, working with a skilled workforce, some of whom will leave their mark for the Antiques Road Show in the future.
As an industry, it failed to keep up with consumer demand, whilst striving for manufacturing efficiency, so there is some local responsibility.
Our government could not care less about manufacturing (I hesitate to include the Tories in this prior to labour, but this is another discussion point).
We lost coal mining, iron & steel, ceramics in various forms, and have ended up with distribution and low paid jobs in place. Not mentioned in the news but there are support services, and not only ceramic materials. What about the entire engineering sector, which supported the manufacturing; training, utilities, maintenance?
Gordon Brown wants to recreate apprenticeships ¿ for what future role? I cannot see the standards reinstated whatsoever!
The result is two classes of employee. The government employed with security, pay not so hot but a pension at the end; and the private sector for whom you just take a chance and struggle. He scuppered pensions, now savings¿(another discussion point!), and we have yet to receive the additional tax burden from his latest rescue plans.
This is very cynical, but as long as he retains his role for long enough he will have a great pension, and then there are the lecture tours if anyone is stupid enough to listen to him.
To Alison Wedgwood ¿ you have described the fundamentals of our prestige ceramic industry.
What of the new visitor centre and the huge investment in it?
What will be the impact on our local tourist industry?”