Top prize for Bridgewater shows pottery industry's far from dead

FLYING the flag for Stoke-on-Trent's potteries. That's Emma Bridgewater Ltd – winner of The Sentinel's Business of the Year Award.

A good news story back home, the comparative newcomer to the industry is also good news around the globe with an international clientele eager to snap up its wares.

Launched in the mid 1980s, the company has gone from strength to strength – with sales climbing 17 per cent to more than £7 million in its latest full year.

It now employs 160 people and produces more than a million pieces of table and decorative ware eachper year,annum which form a dozen ranges sold through 1,500 stockists.

And it has doubled its profits during the past 12 months.

A full version story and see more videos shown at last night's awards at www.thisisbusiness-staffordshire.co.uk will appear shortly