Pottery workers blame energy bills for factory collapse

Pottery workers campaigning to save a factory which has gone into liquidation have said soaring energy prices are to blame.

Moorcroft Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, ceased trading at the end of April with the loss of 57 jobs, following 112 years of trading.

Former workers have said the jobs represented a total of 1,500 years of combined service and skills, and hope a takeover bid will be accepted by the deadline on 4 June.

Beverley Berry, who has worked as a painter and designer at Moorcroft for 36 years, blamed the rising cost of fuel for the collapse.

"What's been the death of Moorcroft has been basically the fuel costs," she said.

"I heard a rumour that the bills went from £60,000 a year to £340,000 a year and that's why we just couldn't sustain things."

Ms Berry, who joined the firm after leaving school, said the loss felt "like a bereavement".

"All my friends worked there, we were all very close and I just feel lost and I know in the end we'll all move on whether we go back to Moorcroft or not but I just feel really lost," she said.

Employees are being offered support with finding new jobs by the GMB Union, with dozens of workers recently attending a meeting at the union's headquarters in Hanley to discuss next steps.

Louise Edwards, who has worked for Moorcroft for 21 years, said the news was a shock and had "completely blown us out the water".

"It's horrific, people have sat there, incredibly skilled painters, tube liners, casters, all these different skills that they've done and devoted themselves to for that length of time and now they're just sitting waiting, not knowing what they're going to do," she said.

Moorcroft was the third pottery firm to collapse since the start of the year, following Royal Stafford and Heraldic Pottery.

It had warned in March of possible redundancies and at the time cited rising costs and falling sales.

Chris Hoofe, GMB organiser, said it was calling on central government to "act now" to support the ceramics industry.

"Unless the government supports this sector with the cost of energy, unfortunately we're going to see more Royal Staffords and more Moorcrofts," he said.

Following the collapse of the firm, a spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade previously said: "We know this will be a concerning time for Moorcroft Pottery workers and their families.

"Ministers continue to engage closely with the ceramics sector to understand the challenges and provide support, ensuring the industry is globally competitive as part of our Plan for Change."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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