Wedgwood Parent to Invest £25million in U.K. Facility

According to the Sentinel newspaper, tabletop giant Wedgwood has today unveiled multi-million pound plans to redevelop its Stoke-on-Trent base. Parent company WWRD is planning a £25 million investment in its Barlaston works three years after buying Wedgwood out of administration. The planned cash injection will be used to:

1)Create new ‘state-of-the-art’ manufacturing facilities;

2) Expand and upgrade the Wedgwood ‘visitor experience’;

3) Safeguard the 500 existing jobs;

4) Create more than 100 new roles.

WWRD chief financial officer Anthony Jones said: “We’ve made the bold decision to transform the Wedgwood estate. We want to create an efficient and sustainable high-quality development that will underpin our ambitious aspirations and the future growth plans for the company. By building new, state-of-the-art factory facilities we can continue to develop a strong Wedgwood business in the Potteries, and commit to creating and safeguarding a significant number of jobs.”

You can read the entire article about Wedgwood’s plans by going here: 
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Pottery-giant-Wedgwood-unveils-pound-25-million/story-16465136-detail/story.html

WWRD is the leading provider of luxury home and lifestyle products sold worldwide under a number of well-recognized brands, including Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Minton and Johnson Brothers. WWRD maintains unique licensing arrangements with some of the most high-profile innovators in the home and lifestyle market, including Vera Wang, Jasper Conran, John Rocha, Monique Lhuillier, Barbara Barry, Gordon Ramsay, Martha Stewart, and Michael Aram. WWRD products are distributed through premium department stores and independent retailers and wholesalers around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Ireland. WWRD has over 3,700 employees worldwide.