JCB Backs Staffordshire Business With Global Ceramics Order

From one Staffordshire industry stalwart to another - digger giant JCB is showing its support for the pottery industry by placing a major order with a leading chinaware manufacturer.

The order with Stoke-on-Trent’s Duchess China 1888 will see its fine bone china used at JCB sites across the globe and available to buy for the first time as a collectors’ item for JCB memorabilia fans.

The order for around 1,300 cups, saucers, plates, teapots, and coffee pots will be used at the company’s World Headquarters in Rocester as well as JCB North America and JCB Brazil, and JCB dealerships across the UK, Europe and as far afield as Panama. The latest order is the largest ever placed in a relationship spanning more than 25 years and is the first order to take Duchess China products across multiple JCB sites globally.

Duchess China ware plays a particularly important part in the JCB Visitor Centre experience at the World Headquarters which last year welcomed almost 57,000 guests, served 39,000 teas and coffees, 14,000 lunches and served dinner to more than 1,000 people on the JCB branded fine bone chinaware.

In addition, JCB branded mugs embossed with 22ct gold are being produced for the first time and will be sold, along with JCB cups and saucers, at its Visitor Centre gift shop at Rocester as well as online via www.jcbshop.com by searching the word 'duchess'.

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford said:

“Flying the flag for great British business wherever we can is important to JCB and particularly so for fellow Staffordshire industries. The Potteries and its people have always held a special place in my heart and I’m pleased JCB can do its bit to support the ceramics industry in Stoke-on-Trent. I’m also delighted that some of our overseas factories and dealers will be using Duchess China products to showcase the area’s ceramics skills at JCB sites around the world.”

Based in Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Duchess China 1888 lists Harrods, The Orient Express and fashion houses such as Burberry and Jimmy Choo among its clients. Co-owner and director Jason Simms said:

“Every piece of chinaware made here goes through up to 30 pairs of hands and we are all proud to know that it is valued and used by an iconic and successful brand like JCB. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do; our clay is made here in Stoke-on-Trent and our products are handmade from start to finish by local people who are among the industry’s most skilled artisans."

"Ensuring their crafts - from gilding to hand painting - remain alive is vital for the industry and JCB’s support over the decades shows how much this artistry is appreciated."

“We have much in common with JCB; we both have proud histories in this county, we both produce the highest quality products and we are both ambitious. It is a privilege to have been associated with the brand for more than a quarter of a century and long may our relationship continue.”

Duchess China 1888 also runs factory tours in association with the nearby Gladstone Pottery Museum. For details email gladstone@stoke.gov.uk or telephone 01782 237777.