Government told to 'put its money where its mouth is' over £125m pledge

The boss of a pottery firm has urged the government to honour its promise of a £120m support package ahead of the Autumn Budget later.

"We need to see action from the government," said Michael Scheepers, chief executive of Stoke-on-Trent-based Portmeirion Group. The government funding, including £60m to help manufacturers invest in new equipment, was announced in May.

He welcomed recent meetings with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), but added: "We don't understand yet what exactly the shape of the scheme will be – who's included, who's excluded and how it will work."

The BBC has contacted the DBIST for comment.

In a letter to the prime minister extending an invite to visit the Portmeirion factory, Scheepers asked for "meaningful support" from the government following cross-party backing from local MPs.

"It's as polite as we can be in an open forum," he said. "The sector has been under pressure for years, decades even.

"High energy costs have made companies make decisions to offshore their production."

Portmeirion was bringing production back into Stoke-on-Trent, he told the BBC, adding that his firm and the wider ceramics industry were doing everything they could to run as "effectively and efficiently as possible".

Scheepers pushed back against the suggestion that helping the industry would be throwing good money after bad.

"The sector is absolutely sustainable. There's lots of innovation going on, there's lots of self-help going on.

"We're always looking at how we can become more efficient and effective ourselves."

The government's support would offset the "incredibly high" energy costs in the UK, he said.

"We need to make sure that we remain competitive. The £120m that was promised to the sector is part of that.

"A large part has already been done by the sector, what we want to see is the government putting their money where their mouth is."

He called for ceramics firms to be included within the government's British Industry Supercharger initiative, which includes targeted support for energy-intensive industries.

In the meantime, Scheeper fears, other ceramics companies could go under.

"I think it will be inevitable that in a sector that is so under pressure you will see ongoing issues.

"Like we've seen with Denby going into administration just recently, over recent years there have been lots of examples here [in Stoke-on-Trent].

"The government has a chance to make sure we secure and safeguard jobs here, this is what they should be doing."

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