'Help us proudly fly the flag for Britain'

Mike is dismayed that ceramics are not highlighted as a “key future industry” in the strategy report.

- By Chris Riches

HERITAGE pottery brands proudly flying the flag for Britain say they are not being supported by the Government after it unveiled an Industrial Strategy to lower electricity bills for energy intensive firms.

Labour's cut of up to 25% does not kick in until 2027 and there is no help on gas, which fires the ceramics sector’s kilns.

Mike Raybould, chief executive of Portmeirion Group, which includes the iconic Royal Worcester and Spode brands, invited Rachel Reeves to come to Stoke-on-Trent to see how soaring costs are hampering growth.

As well as energy bills, the company like all employers has been hit by the Chancellor's National Insurance increase.

At Mike’s factory in Staffordshire, which has 400 staff, earthenware is baked three times at temperatures of up to 1,185C. But annual energy bills have almost tripled from £1.5million in 2022 to £4million. This is despite the company whose Spode brand dates to 1770, its Royal Worcester to 1751 and Portmeirion to the 1960s recy-cling materials and using ingenious methods to make 5% energy efficiencies each year.