Wedgwood now in administration

Bobbly, you really do seem to have a morbid interest in company failures. youre going to be busy posting come the end of the month ?

No-one reports on how well administrating companies are doing, do they? ?

I know, I know - sitting here waiting to see if my job is still there :-( - possibly why I am interested at the moment (I also know someone who works at Wedgwood in Ireland - we went to visit the factory once - it was facinating)

It's scary, Royal Worcester was last month (I'm gutted about that) and now Wedgwood, real institutions dying. I know RW had been going to 300 years and for it to go now is very sad. I hope they can all find buyers but it's probably not that likely. ☹️

It does seem to be the field to be in at the moment.

Sorry, I don't mean to be flippant, it is very sad. I'm just trying not to be too downhearted / worried about my own business.

I know you are not being flippant - it is a worring time for both employers and employees.

I'm in limbo at the moment - still officially employed, but at home waiting to hear if I have a job to go back to - should know within the next couple of days.

As much as I would normally relish the time off, today I would rather be at my desk, than sitting at home waiting for "the" phone call.

? Bubbly x

Thanks, it is only a small local company, so not many staff involved, but we are just...waiting.

I rang up an agency today and they had a job that was an immediate start, and I fitted the bill perfectly and the manager wanted to see me, but I can't do anything until I know, so they had to decline me - aargh!!!!

That's the first one I'm really sad about as I used to work for Wedgwood and they were very good to their staff. Beautiful china too. I really hope they find a buyer. It would be tragic if they went under after 250 years. ☹️

I dont really see that time in business is relevant at all. i m sad for the job losses of course, but lets face it, the company was an anachronism. no one my age or younger says "oooh look what i just bought, some lovely wedgewood", it seems to be an older persons thing. best china and all that.

having said that, perhaps a global brand firm will buy it and revamp it, it needs it.

I'm 42 and have some lovely pieces of Wedgwood (vases, clocks etc) that I have bought and been very proud of!

Our wedding presents consisted of pieces of a wedgwood china service (the Jade design) and I love it.

Perhaps I am just an "oldie" in a younger person's body!

Well, the very principle of business is that you need to trade something that people want, at a price they will pay that will allow you to make a profit (see, you didn't know that, did you?! ?) That means keeping up with the times. It's sad, especially for the employees, but there's not really a place for nostalgia in business. I can't see how it could otherwise function. However, there are times when this feels dreadfully cut throat, and I guess this is one of those times.

ok, jacqueline gold ?

I wish ?

I feel sad about Wedgwood. They do some beautiful designs. However, didn't they outsource a lot of the manufacturing to Asia? I don;t think this will have helped their 'traditional. British' branding and could have turned a lot of people off. It is easy to blame the credit crunch etc, but they have surely been struggling for years?

L
xx

It's probably not relevant but I do think it's sad when a company can survive for 300 years, through two world wars and countless hard times but have to go out of buisness due to a recession in 2009. It makes me very sad to think of the job losses and history that will go if they can't find a buyer.

We have a Royal Worcester dinner set, it's a modern set and the beginnings of it was a wedding gift from my bridesmaid. We've worked hard at buying additions to make a full 6 place dinner set and I find it sad I won't be able to buy it any more. We got it all out to make list of what we have and bought the last vital pieces in the Debenhams sale last week. We also have a Royal Doulton set in storage with was a wedding gift from my mum's friend and I'm sad I now won't be able to add to that. I also have some beautiful Royal Doulton ornaments and I'm 28.

Hooby, when I worked with Radio Lollipop, Wedgwood offered to help us and donated some beautiful pieces. All went well until the literature used was send to them and their name was written as Wedgewood. That went down like a lead dinner set. ?

I've looked on ebay to add to my dinner service as it was discontinued a few years ago, and the amount of listings that spell it Wedgewood is - well, a lot!

I think that is the case for a lot of the companies that will go and actually I am sure a lot of them have been badly run for a long time. Like Woolworths, surely they knew that they needed to change, dramatically to compete with online shopping and other discount stores/supermarkets? I am sure that Wedgwood have been here before haven't they? Or was that Royal Dalton? I know they have moved with the times and got celebs on board and updated ranges but it's massively expensive! I'd also imagine that it's always made a lot of money from wedding lists but with a wider range of products and people living together before marriage it's getting to be an outdated concept (says she who can't even run her own business ?)

Some other place also in admin / closing branches . . .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7811658.stm

? That was a major bugbear of mine when I worked for them. My colleague always spelled it that way and I just couldn't understand it as she saw it printed on a hundred different boxes and documents each and every day!

I'm still using the dinner service I got for my 18th birthday on a daily basis, with just 2 or 3 breakages in all that time, and I still love it. Maybe I'll get another one while I still can. It'll see me out. ? Try some of the china search companies if you need to complete your Doulton set. Not always the cheapest way of doing it but you never know, people do sell off entire dinner services and you can sometimes pick up your missing pieces for a song.

I am selfishly hoping that my 50s dinner service they starting remaking for the US market will become available to buy over here. Then I can get some extra pieces and use the damn thing more often

L
xx

I'm sad to hear this one as well

My dad used to work for Denby and then Royal Doulton and I have fab memories of when he arranged for my primary school class to visit the site and make pots etc. He still has a bundle of thank you letters written by a bunch of 7 year olds including me ?

Luckily for us he doesn't work for them anymore but it is sad for the people that do

Nick, I'm surprised that you think Wedgwood is for old people - I have quite a few friends who have Wedgwood dinner services. I admit that some of their designs are old fashioned but they had / have a lot of more modern ones. Then again maybe we're just very old fashioned because we also have Waterford crystal for our glasses.

We actually found out on Xmas Eve that our dinner service had been discontinued so are now on the hunt to find extra bits to cover for breakages etc. Bit annoyed as we had chosen Wedgwood because they notify you in advance if it's being discontinued. Cue H and I ranting between us that they hadn't told us before realising that we forgot to change our address with them when we moved. Doh !

I thinks it's really sad. My mum was born and bought in in Euturia, Staffordshire and when she was growing up you etiehr worked down the mines (like her father and two brothers) or you worksed in the wedgwood factory (like her mum and generations before her). My mum bucked the trend and went and worked in Woolworths of all places then moved out of the area when she met and married my dad. However she did manage to get a job in the Wedgwood HQ in the visitors centre a few years ago and really enjoyed it. We all managedto get loads of very cheap pieces - in fact I have a full dinner service in Variations and use it as my everyday china. My mums house is a museum to Wedgwood.

That said as long as 7 or 8 years ago the company been struggling, they outsourced most of their manufactoring to China to cut costs. I think the resession was just the final nail in the coffin

It's not just Wedgwood though is it, it's Waterfood Crystal too. I have some fabulous Waterford Crystal wine glasses that we were bought as a wedding present, they're certainly not old fashioned, quite the opposite in fact. So far I haven't broken one (famous last words) despite Mr Hole's nickname for me being Mrs Bump, and I hope I don't because 1) they're bloody expensive to replace and 2) now I may not be able to :-(

Very sad indeed.

I'm not familiar with wedgwood but have a few bits of waterford crystal which are quite modern and lovely. I had hoped to add to the collection.

I've got a beautiful Wedgewood dinner service; it's white and very modern. I think the range is called Ethereal. They have a lot that would appeal to modern buyers if it was only marketed properly, rather than hidden away in a corner of House of Fraser. Though I suppose in an age where new houses don't contain dining rooms any more, most people don't put pretty plates on their list of priorities.

Sad news, but given that the company has made operating losses for 6 years on the trot, it was only kept going by people/institutions insane enough to keep lending it money in the bizarre hope that more cash would somehow solve its underlying issues.

We have the Wedgwood Metropolis service (well, several bits of it, allas wedding pressies). I suppose we should be looking to snap up any other pieces we might want ....

It's sad to hear of another long-standing company biitng the dust. Perhaps they will find a buyer but it's not looking very positive at the moment.

i dont think its just me, otherwise they wouldnt be in administration.

likewise waterford crystal. nice in its day, but that day has gone, hence falling sales etc. when you can buy huge villeroy and boch contemporary looking crystal wine glasses discounted for 6 quid each, who needs waterford crystal? its kind of like grandmothers pearls isnt it?

Absolutely, what Nick said.