By Louise Irvine

Production will resume soon at the factory in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent, which was built by William Moorcroft in 1913 with support from Liberty & Co., the London department store. William boldly started his own company after the closure of James Macintyre’s design studio, where he achieved international success with his famous Florian ware.  After William died in 1945, his son Walter took over the company, which had grown in esteem. The firm’s Royal Warrant as Potter to Her Majesty, The Queen, was first awarded to William in 1928, and reissued in 1946 with Walter’s name. Walter continued to develop the company, and in 1962, Moorcroft bought out Liberty’s assets. However, he was forced to sell the company during the financial recession of the 1980s. Moorcroft went into decline until it was rescued from the verge of collapse in 1986 by Hugh and Maureen Edwards, together with Richard Dennis and his designer wife, Sally Tuffin. They appointed John Moorcroft, son of William, as the Managing Director.

That same year, Walter Moorcroft designed a prestige vase entitled After the Storm to celebrate his father’s arrival at Macintyre’s a century earlier and the first pots to carry the Moorcroft name. The WMODA collection includes a signed photograph of Walter with this impressive vase. For many years, it seemed that the storm was indeed over with Hugh Edwards at the helm. From his first career in law, he had sound experience in business and commerce. Business was booming following the introduction of new designs, and the skilled workforce increased from 15 employees to 132.

 In 1998, Hugh Edwards opened Moorcroft’s new Phoenix Works in Burslem. At a moving ceremony, the sole survivor of William Moorcroft’s original workforce, Patty Booth aged 99 1/2, joined the procession across town to launch the new factory just as she had done 84 years earlier when William Moorcroft opened the Cobridge works. The Walk vase, designed by Kerry Goodwin, commemorates this momentous event in 1912.

In the years when the Potteries were outsourcing production to Asia, Hugh Edwards was adamant about keeping Moorcroft as a small-scale art pottery and continuing to produce only in Stoke-on-Trent. In 2008, he put the company up for sale with the condition that any buyer must continue to produce Moorcroft in the Potteries. He withdrew it from sale a year later as nobody would accept his conditions. After weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, Hugh Edwards remarked that time and again, Moorcroft had overcome challenging situations, and its survival was little short of miraculous.  He put it down to a loyal, long-serving workforce and the continued support of collectors and ceramic connoisseurs across the globe.

At WMODA, we were devastated when the company went into liquidation earlier this year, and Will Moorcroft admitted he cried when he first heard the shocking news. However, he threw himself into action and put together a plan to save the business. It has been nearly 20 years since his family was last involved in running Moorcroft, but he has huge pride in the iconic brand, its skilled staff, and desirable products. He aims to reinstate the workforce step by step, starting with the reemployment of at least 30 of the 57 individuals who lost their jobs at the factory in Cobridge. He recognizes that it won’t be easy with the high costs of energy, transport and global tariffs, but he is determined. “I think to have such a product, to carry on its existence, is tremendous for everybody.” We eagerly anticipate that the phoenix will rise again!

Read more about Moorcroft at WMODA

Moorcroft – End of an Era? | Wiener Museum

Birds of Fire | Wiener Museum

Marvelous Moorcroft | Wiener Museum

Up the Walls! | Wiener Museum