Fri, 28 Oct 2011 | ADMINISTRATION
Jesse Shirley, the historic Stoke-on-Trent pottery industry supplier that has been in business for nearly 200 years, is in the process of appointing administrators.
The company, which is the world's oldest producer of the integral pottery component, bone ash, has been forced into administration after owners said they had suffered raw material shortages, that had driven costs to an untenable level.
Mike Shirley, the managing director and a direct descendant of Jesse Shirley, who founded the company in 1820, said that it had been a very tough decision to make, but that the increasing costs of fuel and raw material bone had seen them working at a loss for the last year.
"The board has had to look at the profits and revenue of the business, and the shareholders were unable to cover those losses, so the decision has been made to ask to go into administration," he explained. "What has happened is very unfortunate, but I cannot do anything about it."
The company entered administration in January 2009, as a direct result of the collapse of renowned fine china company, Wedgewood. A group of its suppliers, however, formed their own company, Hajco 377, to buy it out of administration. Shirley said that times have changed since then, however, and the losses cannot be sustained.
"This is the end of an era for the company and the family," he added. "I'm sorry for everyone concerned. The suppliers, operatives and managers have all been equally affected by this."
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