KN26031 KEY NOTE CHINA AND EARTHENWARE FEBRUARY 2001

Editor: Jane Griffiths
ISBN: 1-84168-172-5

This report covers: china,earthernware,tableware,kitchenware,stoneware,hard porcelain,bone china,oven-to-tableware,ornamental ware,

Companies covered include: Aynsley China,Churchill China,Denby Pottery,Enesco,Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, Hutschenreuther, Rosenthal, Waterford Wedgwood, Poole Pottery, Porcelain and Fine China Companies, Portmeirion Group, Rayware, Royal Doulton, Staffordshire Tableware, Villeroy & Boch (UK), Wade Ceramics,

GO TO LATEST EDITION

Executive Summary

Table of Contents

Back to Glass, Ceramics and Building Products Index and Shopping Cart

Back To REPORTFINDER home page and Search Engine

WANT TO BUY THIS? The easiest way is just to ring ReportFinder on +44 (0) 1404 891528 from 0900 to 1930 UK time and ask for Sales.Just one of a HUGE range of titles from publishers such as Aktrin, AMA Research, eMarketer, Key Note, MAPS, MBD, MSI and The Prospect Shop that you can BUY RIGHT NOW online from us. To buy or to browse further, use either of the Back To buttons below to activate our catalogue. If you would like to buy this title, you will find it in alphabetic order in the Index using the first Back To button. If you need further information, please contact us using the details at the top of this page. Please tell your colleagues if you find our site useful!

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Key Note estimates that retail sales of china and earthenware tableware, kitchenware and ornamental ware were worth some £1.27bn in 2000, having increased by less than 1 percent from the previous year. It is a highly competitive market, particularly the tableware sector, and one in which manufacturers have had to cut margins and retailers have had to discount.

While the most noticeable trend of recent years has been the move away from formal to casual dining, tableware and kitchenware is much more fashion-led than previously, encouraging consumers to change more frequently. The bridal market, important to the premium end of the market, may be diminishing, but the increase in the number of households in the UK offers the potential to grow market volume.

Figures for UK manufacturing production in its entirety, relating to October 2000, paint a dire picture — although a survey from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply suggests that manufacturing output rose at its fastest rate for 9 months in December 2000. Nevertheless, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimates that between 10,000 and 15,000 manufacturing jobs could be lost each month without cuts in borrowing costs, and manufacturers will be hoping for a cut in interest rates — particularly following such a cut in the US in January 2001. However, with household expenditure and borrowing at record levels, the Bank of England is unlikely to want to stimulate spending in such a way.

At any rate, it would be too late for some china and earthenware manufacturers. Staffordshire Potteries is the latest casualty, being put into receivership in January 2001 and following in the wake of Hornsea Pottery and the John Tams Group. Others have fared better and have achieved improved profitability on limited sales growth, but all too frequently at the expense of jobs. The severity of the situation, however, has been acknowledged and financial assistance has been made available to the Ceramics Industry Forum, a body set up to revitalise the industry.

Continuing discounting and a diminishing trade surplus will not help the UK's china and earthenware industry to achieve much in the way of value growth in the immediate future. However, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has described High Street business as brisk in early 2001. While the price-sensitive consumer will always exist, it is felt that the UK industry would be best advised to concentrate on the premium end of the market — utilising the flair and innovation for which it is renowned worldwide — and on embracing new technology, improving marketing and opening up new export markets.

Back to Top

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Text © 2001 Key Note

Back to Top

Back To REPORTFINDER HOME PAGE

Ariadne - working together with our customers to enhance productivity and increase knowledge

© 2001 www.the-list.co.uk Ariadne

Last updated by Paul Tucker 15th March 2001