Pottery firm looks at move abroad

The firm has 16 warehouse shops across the UK

A Derbyshire ceramics company has confirmed it is considering moving some of its production abroad.

The 200-year-old Denby Pottery has already this year made 35 redundancies and been the subject of a management buyout due to a fall in retail sales.

It has now held a series of employee briefings which revealed it was looking at all ways of "substantially reducing" its costs.

But the owners said no decisions would be taken for some months.

The firm employs 665 people worldwide with 465 of them working at the headquarters in Denby, Derbyshire.

The UK and US businesses were bought in February by a team led by managing director Gary Biggs.

In a statement Mr Biggs said: "The current global recession has had a devastating impact on the Global Tableware industry.

"For Denby to remain at the forefront of the industry in the long-term, all strategic options must be considered but no firm decision in respect of the option to transfer production of some of its manufacturing processes overseas will be taken for several months.

"All employees will of course be kept fully informed as we develop our plans for the future."

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