Save the Wedgwood Museum - Urgent Call for Action

An appeal from Dr Alan Wedgwood, Thomas D Wedgwood and Alison Wedgwood

The origins of the modern Wedgwood Museum can be traced to Josiah himself. On 3rd September 1774, he wrote:

‘I have often wish'd I had saved a single specimen of all the new articles I have made, & would now give twenty times the original value for such a collection. For ten years past I have omitted doing this, because I did not begin it ten years sooner. I am now, from thinking, and talking a little more upon this subject ... resolv'd to make a beginning.'

That beginning saw the gradual formation of a large informal collection of wares and other historic items which was finally organised into an official museum in 1906. Wedgwood managers of the 20th century kept remarkably few of the wares they produced or inherited, preferring prestige pieces to be held by the museum so that they could be shared with the public.

The Museum was made into a trust in 1962, specifically to prevent it being used as a realisable asset by any future predator. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons became a listed company four years later.

In 1986 when Waterford took over Wedgwood the enthusiasts around the world were reassured that the Museum was protected by the force of law and could not be lost. With this reassurance, many people continued to donate generously with both cash and collectors' items. When the Museum gained Charitable Trust status in 1998, its long term future seemed absolutely guaranteed. And it was on this basis that an ambitious plan to create a new building to house the collection received financial support from all sides. The Millennium Lottery Fund contributed £5m, and a further £4m came from other granting bodies, businesses and individuals. This resulted in a magnificent new museum which opened to the public in 2008 and in 2009 won the Art Fund Prize for Best Museum.

However, what the Museum Trustees were not aware of was that in 2005 a new pension law was slipped in, with little fanfare, resulting in the Museum being held responsible for the £134m deficit of the Wedgwood Pension Plan simply because five of the museum's staff are among the 7000 members of the original Wedgwood pension fund. This law had the laudable objective of preventing companies from concealing assets. It was not intended for charities – but charities are suffering the unintended consequences.

The Wedgwood Museum is now under administration. It cannot be emphasised strongly enough that this is simply the result of the 2005 legislation and for no other reason. In October, there is to be a court case to decide whether or not the assets of the Museum Trust can be appropriated by the Pension Protection Fund. If the ruling goes against the Wedgwood Museum the unthinkable would happen. The Wedgwood collection would be auctioned off and scattered around the globe – this would be a national tragedy.

The museum collection houses evidence of a significant part of England’s great social history. It is not just about ceramics, but science, engineering, craftsmanship, social and political evolution - the birth of the industrial revolution. A story of canal building and inventions, of the Lunar Society, of grand artists such as Reynolds and Stubbs, of Catherine of Russia, Coleridge and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Intimate letters from Charles Darwin to his Wedgwood wife, Aunties and Uncles; between Erasmus Darwin and his friend Josiah. A story of liberal traditions, of the anti-slavery movement; of supporting Thomas Clarkson; dining with Wilberforce, of political crusades, the Reform Bill, of MPs and Lord Mayors and of hard working folk in the Potteries.

Selling off this collection would not help the Pension Protection Fund. Pensioners will receive a statutory amount and will receive no more if the museum is sold off. The managers of the PPF are only following the letter of the law by placing the museum in administration but they know, as we do, that it is all simply bad legislation.

We urge the new Government to amend the shoddy legislation immediately and thus protect the museum and other charities which have suffered from its enforcement. It is not reasonable to use the Wedgwood Museum as a test case in law – this approach risks the whole Wedgwood collection if the Judge is forced to rule against the Museum because of a poorly written law. Supporters of the museum from all around the world, and members of the family who have invested so much in it, appeal to the Government to take action.

What you can do:

Write to your MP:

Search for your MP here: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

Write to the Ministers:

Ed Vaizey Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

E-mail: vaizeye@parliament.uk

Post:

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Steve Webb, Minister for Pensions

E-mail: steve@stevewebb.org.uk

House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

Support the Wedgwood Museum by visiting or becoming a friend:

http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/

In Praise of the Wedgwood Museum – “The Guardian”

In praise of … the Wedgwood Museum

Josiah Wedgwood was one of the of the late 18th century, his life a model of industrial, political and intellectual progress Josiah Wedgwood was one of the remarkable men of the late 18th century, his life a model of industrial, political and intellectual progress. An anti-slavery campaigner, a member of the Lunar Society and founder of the factories that still produce fine ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent, his work is celebrated in a thriving museum that now faces the most unjust of threats to its future. The Wedgwood Museum in Stoke, which reopened in 2008 after a lottery-funded transformation, risks being dragged down by a legal quirk. 
When the ceramics firm went bankrupt last year – and transferred to new owners – five members of the museum's staff remained in the pension fund. As an accidental result of a new law intended to protect pensioners, the museum has found itself liable for funding the pensions of 7,000 ex-Wedgwood factory employees and a £134m deficit, an impossible task. The museum trust was forced into administration last month as a result – though the museum remains open and as busy as ever.

Its administrators are waiting for a court ruling which may compel them to break up and auction off its extraordinary collection. Such vandalism is barely imaginable: the museum's contents trace 250 years of cultural and manufacturing history, including many pieces of global importance and immense value. The court could rule that the museum is not liable, but if the sale begins, no donor could ever be generous enough to rescue its contents from a forced sale to private collectors abroad.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/17/in-praise-of-wedgwood-museum


 

Wedgwood Museum forced into Administration

Press Release from The Wedgwood Museum.

"The Wedgwood Museum Trust Ltd can confirm that is has been placed into Administration, although the prize winning Wedgwood Museum will remain fully operational and open to the general public as usual.

The Administration is a necessary step to enable the Wedgwood Group Pension Plan to seek the support of the Pension Protection Fund, the body established to provide a guaranteed minimum level of pension payments to members of eligible pension funds. Five of the Wedgwood Group Pension Plan's 7000-member scheme were employees of the Museum Trust when the Wedgwood companies became insolvent last year, leaving a large deficit in the Pension Plan. As a result, the Museum Trust is now deemed to be liable for the shortfall.

The Museum's Trustees are in discussions with a wide range of stakeholders as to how the Trust's internationally renowned Designated Collections can be preserved, and are determined to ensure the survival of the Wedgwood Museum.

The Trust's Chairman, George Stonier, said: "Bob Young and Steve Currie of the Stoke-on-Trent office of Begbies Traynor, the UK's leading independent professional services firm, have been appointed Joint Administrators of the Trust.  The Museum's Trustees and their advisors are now working hard to find a solution to this extremely unfortunate situation. The Trustees are extremely grateful for the continued support of the Museum's staff and its many friends, and remain optimistic that the Collections will continue to be available to the public in our museum in Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent."

It is open daily from 9.00am to 5.00pm (from 10.00am on Saturday and Sunday).  Admission is £6.00 for adults, £5.00 for concessions or £4.50 for children (under fives go free).  For more information, please call 01782 371900 or visitwww.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk"

Supporters may also consider becoming a member of the museum. The Wedgwood Museum Trust is a registered charity (number 1072442) and relies on the support of everyone - especially those who belong to our membership scheme. Your support really counts.

Membership Individual membership (UK)  - £20 European Individual membership - £25 Rest of the World membership - £28 Joint membership (UK) - £35 European Joint membership - £40 Rest of the World Joint membership - £43 Family membership (up to 2 adults and up to 4 children) - £45 Overseas Family membership - £50 Corporate membership - £200 Overseas corporate membership - £300 Schools membership (Local Authority schools in Stoke and Staffordshire only)  - £150 Membership Application Form Gift Membership

Donations Another way to help the museum is through a donation. Donations are publicly acknowledged. Donations can be made in the following ways In person at the museum By post By standing order If you'd like to make a donation by post please download the donations form. All donations should be sent to: The Museum Director The Wedgwood Museum Wedgwood Drive, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. ST12 9ER. Cheques should be made payable to The Wedgwood Museum Trust Limited.

 

Wedgwood Museum at Risk

After the sad events of last year, the bankruptcy of the Wedgwood Company and the purchase of the trademarks by unscrupulous private equity outfit KPS, many of us were, at least consoled, despite the ultimate failure of our "Save Wedgwood Campaign" that the Wedgwood Museum, with its priceless collection of Wedgwood and its archive of Wedgwood family documents stretching back to the thirteenth century was safe. The award winning Museum (founded in 1906) was transferred to an independent company in the 1960s.


However, as reported by the BBC and others in the last few days, it has not escaped the financial mess that the O'Reilly family drove Waterford Wedgwood plc to. The pension liabilities for former Wedgwood workers were not taken on by KPS – the Museum staff are party to shared pension arrangements and the Museum, a charitable Trust has now been handled a bill for £130,000,000.

The BBC have reported:

The Wedgwood Museum has been served with a letter transferring a £130m pension debt from the collapsed pottery maker.

Waterford Wedgwood Plc went into administration in January last year with a pension fund shortfall.

The museum in Stoke-on-Trent is a trust and is separate from the pottery firm, but linked by a shared pension fund.

Chair of the Wedgwood Group Pension Plan, Chris Johnson, said the notice was served "with very great regret". The government's Pension Protection Fund administrators say as the museum remains in operation, taxpayers can be protected by recouping losses from the trust.

Mr Johnson said legal advice given to trustees is that the trust can be held liable for the pension debt.

But the trust is considering a legal challenge to the notice, and says selling off the collection would not mean "an extra penny" to pensioners.

The museum charts 250 years of British social, design and industrial history via the Wedgwood products ranges.

In June last year museum staff were celebrating after winning a £100,000 Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries.

But now they face having the collection, some of which is described as "priceless", being sold-off.

Pension trustees say they have to serve the museum with the debt to benefit from the Pension Protection Fund.

Mr Johnson said: "I have been a Wedgwood man forever, and I'm passionate about its history and treasure."But we have to obey the law and obey due process."

The museum has been displaying its exhibits since 1906 and became a trust in 1962.

Trust chairman George Stonier said: "We are absolutely determined to do everything we can to preserve our museum."

I have every sympathy with the company's pensioners – many of whom will have, as shareholders, like me, lost money already. However the Wedgwood collection is part of our country's heritage and must not be dispersed. North Staffordshire has lost so much already – the Government did not back the family's attempt to save Wedgwood – they must act this time.

Tom Wedgwood writes to Staffordshire Sentinel Re: Wedgwood Museum: "Don't thank the old management".

Don't thank the old management

Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

PRAISE TRUST: Mike Wolfe's praise for the staff, building and success of the Wedgwood museum is surely appreciated by all involved.

I'd like to add one caveat, which heaps even more praise on the trust, museum team and Gaye Blake-Rogers for their extreme foresight and diligence, but decidedly less on the old Waterford Wedgwood management.

The Wedgwood Collection, the archives and artefacts were actually put into a trust before Waterford took over in 1988, so let's not thank the old board for their one kind act, this was something the Wedgwood family, who had donated many of the artefacts for safe-keeping over the last century, worked very hard to make happen.

Waterford Wedgwood and its Irish owners would certainly have sold off the contents if Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd owned them, just as they have attempted with other collections. We, in the Wedgwood family, are absolutely thrilled at the success of the museum. My father Alan Wedgwood has been deeply saddened by the turn of events in Stoke and the one thing he has put his all into has been the museum. My grandfather's trust the C.T Wedgwood Trust, (although of course he was called Tom because we're not very original with names), helped fund the initial feasibility studies to attract the Heritage Lottery Funding – for this we are proud, and the museum is set to thank the family with a Tom Wedgwood reading room to honour the trust.

Be assured that the Wedgwood family will never desert Wedgwood, its collections nor those Stoke- based employees and ex-employees.

TOM D WEDGWOOD

Cocknage

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/letters/Don-t-thank-old-management/article-1123010-detail/article.html

"If it's not 'Made in England', it's not Wedgwood"

Following this post quoting the Sentinel article by Thomas D. and Thomas R. Wedgwood I would like to urge all readers of this blog to show your support for their stand. Insist on English Wedgwood and make your feelings known.

Write to:

Customer Service,

WWRD Ltd,

Barlaston,

Stoke-upon-Trent,

ST12 9ES

info@wedgwood.com

Know your Back-Stamps:

Products Made in Staffordshire England" will be marked "Made in England."

  

Products outsourced and produced Indonesia will just have "Wedgwood England" with no explicit country of origin. 

Family Commemorations

Despite the sad loss of the last vestige of family influence at the iconic Wedgwood Pottery earlier this year – covered in this blog passim – 2009 is very much "The Year of Wedgwood". Members of the wider Wedgwood clan will be interested to note that both the Royal Mail and Royal Mint have, in their own way, issued products which commemorate the achievements of two family members.

In January the Royal Mail issued a set of stamps, for general release and in collector's packs, in honour of Charles Darwin born two hundred years ago in 1809. This year also marks the 150^th anniversary of the publication of his ground-breaking and controversial book On the Origin of Species (1859).

A few months later the Royal Mail issued a set of stamps dedicated to titans of the Industrial Revolution – our very own Josiah Wedgwood featured on the 50p stamp. I was pleased to be able to use this stamp to send out the 'thank you' for gifts given to our son Thomas for his Christening. This is surely the only time when consecutive special edition stamps have features a grandson and grandfather? Further, it must be noted that the Royal Mint has issued three different commemorative £2 coins: 1) "Brilliant Uncirculated coin", 2) "silver proof" and 3) "gold proof" for Charles Darwin which must be a similarly rare confluence of events. Don't forget that dear old Charles is also on the reverse of the Bank of England ten pound note so appearing on two currency formats at once must also be quite rare for a non-royal?

"Indonesian production has no Wedgwood family support"

The Sentinel: Friday, May 15, 2009, 09:20

As workers at two of the world's most famous china brands come to terms with 225 more potential redundancies, members of the Wedgwood family are angry at plans to transfer more production to Indonesia. Here, cousins Tom R Wedgwood and Tom D Wedgwood argue that the policy of Wedgwood's and Royal Doulton's new U.S.-based owners is shortsighted and damaging.We are profoundly dismayed and angry at the announcement yesterday that there could be up to a further 225 manufacturing job losses at Barlaston. This is likely to be followed up by administration job losses as well.

Pierre de Villeméjane, chief executive officer of new owners WWRD may have used a velvet tongue to talk about "significant production remaining at Barlaston" but his iron fist is crippling production and in the long term threatens to destroy Wedgwood.

Let's get this absolutely clear. We, the direct descendants of Josiah Wedgwood, do not support the production of Wedgwood in Indonesia. It is not staying true to Josiah, his legacy or the excellence of ceramics craftsmanship in Stoke-on-Trent. Or let's put it another way – if it's not made in England it's not Wedgwood.

There will now only be around 150 employed in manufacturing Wedgwood in Staffordshire, compared to more than 1,500 in Indonesia. This is purely token manufacturing. Pierre and Michael Psaros, the boss at WWRD's parent company KPS, surely do not think that producing a few tableware lines and a few Prestige pieces in Stoke will be enough to fool astute global consumers? These redundancies will involve the loss of jobs in the Prestige special skills departments as well as the long-serving potters whose skills can never be truly replaced. It is a tragedy for the Potteries and for Josiah Wedgwood's legacy.

When we carried out due diligence as part of our bid to buy the company out of administration, the financial analysis proved that in the medium and long term it makes financial sense to develop the brand as a uniquely Staffordshire luxury product. It makes commercial and financial sense because consumers expect that when they pay £25 or more for a plate that it is designed, manufactured and decorated in Stoke. That is the only way consumers can guarantee they are buying the "unrivalled heritage" that Pierre hopes to cash in on. Why else would consumers make that purchasing decision when they know they can pick up 20 plates for a fiver made in China? We had hoped KPS had realised this. We'd heard rumours that all the media attention might have had an impact on their plans.

KPS are making a major commercial mistake. Wedgwood sales have gone through the floor. Yes, there is a world-wide recession, but there is a deeper underlying reason which Pierre ignores at his peril – suddenly, thanks to the media interest, high-end consumers in these markets have suddenly woken up to the fact that Wedgwood has a factory in Indonesia producing most of its core tableware and hollow-ware. Before January, most global consumers didn't know this. They honestly thought all Wedgwood was made in Stoke, and they've shown their disapproval by walking out of stores saying: "We don't want it." The cat is now out of the bag. Our greatest fear is that Pierre and Michael actually know this but don't care. They simply want to produce tableware in Indonesia and back-stamp it with Wedgwood or Vera Wang and "grow the hell", as they put it, out of the U.S. bridal market while playing lip-service to heritage to sell the odd Prestige piece. Their fundamental belief is that luxury consumers don't care. They're wrong.

Tell the world the truth: how much production will there be in Barlaston compared to Indonesia? Will WWRD still pretend it's made in Staffordshire? Why?

"Wedgwood legacy is under threat"

Letter to the Financial Times Published online : April 1 2009 03:00 Last updated: April 1 2009 03:00

From Mr Josiah Francis Wedgwood.

Sir, KPS Capital Partners' plan to transfer the production of Wedgwood
china to factories in Indonesia threatens to destroy the tradition and
branding of a 250-year-old company, as well as an English Midlands
community ("Waterford's new owner to accelerate shift overseas", March
27). Even as an economic matter, it will work only if the craft skills
are available abroad among poorly paid workers, and if American
consumers are willing to accept deluxe English china that is marked
"Made in Indonesia".

The use of a "Wedgwood – England" trademark may disguise the new
source of production for sales in the UK and Europe. But for sales in
the US, source of origin is more stringently regulated, and each plate
will have to admit on its verso that it was "Made in Indonesia". The
first Josiah never travelled to Asia, and neither will his company's
tradition.

Josiah Francis Wedgwood,
Potomac, MD, US

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

FT Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da44c4d4-1e53-11de-830b-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

.

Wedgwood Company Future

KPS Capital have succeeded in buying Wedgwood, all links with the
founding family have now been completely severed. Alison Wedgwood,
wife of Thomas D. Wedgwood who, with his cousin Thomas R. Wedgwood led
the Family Consortium which attempted to "Save Wedgwood", has asked me
to forward this message to you all with their THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

"Our Fight, Hopes and Fears for Wedgwood"
A Personal View by Alison Wedgwood – March 27th 2009

I just wanted to share with readers and the numerous employees and
ex-employees that have been in contact me my thoughts on what has
happened with regard to the Wedgwood family bidding for Waterford
Wedgwood. We made a non-binding indicative bid on 13th February. This
was co-ordinated by Wedgwood Partners Ltd, a consortium comprising the
Wedgwood family and a number of talented ex-employees, supporters and
professionals plus one regulated firm of professional advisors and one
FSA regulated fund management and corporate finance firm.

Due diligence had been taking place since the end of January, and was
ramped up in February when over a dozen legal, financial and corporate
specialists were in process of analysing all aspects of the potential
purchase. Rob Flello, MP and the union Unite have been very helpful
throughout this process.  The investors were gathered, but there were
barriers to finding all the information because certain aspects of
Waterford Wedgwood were NOT in administration and so data about these
firms, their role and their contracts with the rest of the group was
not available.

We spoke to staff in Peter Mandelson's Ministry, the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform but they were unable to
assist in accessing this information because most of it was offshore.
The investors therefore could not proceed and make a binding offer on
large portions of the business they had not analysed and we could not
produce contracts and discuss heads of terms with the investors. I
cannot discuss any details of the contents of the bid because
non-disclosure agreements between Deloittes and bidders ensure that
everything that happens with regard to bidding stays out of the public
domain.

KPS announced they had come to a deal with Deloittes on Friday 27th
February due to "completion of overseas transactions". This has now
taken place and just as we feared it looks like KPS will move most of
the production, except prestige, to Indonesia.

Tom and Tom, the professional advisers, ex-employees, legal experts
and financiers worked weekends and through nights to try and secure a
deal that would ensure Wedgwood stayed in Stoke, producing outstanding
pottery for export around the world. We still believe passionately in
this goal and like the rest of Stoke, wait and see what an American
private equity firm working with many of the original senior managers
and Board of Waterford Wedgwood that brought Wedgwood to it's knees
can possibly do now.

For the real people in Stoke, the suppliers and sub-contractors owed
money, and the workers who signed legal contracts for enhanced
redundancy packages with the management in November last year, I feel
angry. They will be at the back of the queue when it comes to dishing
out any cash from the sale. I can only hope that we don't have even
more redundancies and, God forbid, if there are please can they be
done with dignity, not just a line of people left standing in the rain
waiting to be lead to the chamber/room.

It would seem that, just as in banking, reward for failure, a culture
of entitlement and managers who never accept responsibility is the way
of business and proves again the distorted global capitalist model
that has grown like an out of control monster these last 10 years. The
tragedy is that it's the workers who've put in 30 years of hard work,
growing a business, actually making real things out of the minerals
and clays of the area that really suffer.

The KPS business model will see many businessmen nodding their heads
in agreement: cut costs, streamlining, labour that is 85% cheaper in
Indonesia. Ironic when you consider that Deloittes admin staff are
charged out at £220 an hour and partners at £745 an hour and they've
earned over £3 million in fees over 3 months.

But will the KPS model work? I know that consumers in Japan are
dismayed to find out that the Indonesian factory even exists; I know
of an American who smashed his purchased item in the showroom when he
found out it was made in Indonesia. I know the owner of the only
Indonesian showroom didn't want to stock Wedgwood sourced from the
factory just down the road from her.  I know that Steelite and Dudson
produce outstanding ware in Stoke competing head on with low cost
producers overseas and winning outright. I know that the real pottery
craftsmen and women and their commitment is only found in Stoke. The
clay and bone ash is sourced around Stoke, and it has to be
transported to Indonesia. The skilled craftsmen are not expensive; the
pound is low. Anyway, the labour costs have not been part of the
problem, the supply chain and distribution networks organised by the
senior management are more to blame.  Tom D spent a month on the
production line in 2005 and knows full well where the wastage and
inefficiencies are.

I'm sure KPS know all this as well, and they are hoping that less
discerning buyers won't care about country of origin, won't care about
the 250 years of heritage, excellence, design and Josiah's legacy as a
marketing pioneer.  They're not proud of the Wedgwood history in
Staffordshire how it is intertwined with the Darwin's, the industrial
revolution, the Lunar Society, the strong Wedgwood women who were
instrumental in the abolitionist fight and the daughter of Josiah who
gave birth to one of the world's greatest scientists Charles Darwin.
But they should care, because they may find out that the Wedgwood
Collectors Societies and all the discerning consumers who aspire to
purchase exquisite china that represents 250 year of this heritage -
they really do care. Then what happens to global sales?"

-------- End-----

REMEMBER to continue to support the Wedgwood Museum, managed by an
independent trust. They have just re-opened a state-of-the art museum
at Barlaston. It contains one of the finest collections of Wedgwood in
the world, new research facilities and 85,000 archival items -the
Wedgwood Manuscript collection dating from the sixteenth century.

http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/

The End of a 350 year Family Tradition

Despite the efforts of Thomas D. and Thomas R. Wedgwood to save Wedgwood as a Staffordshire based Pottery, Private Equity concern KPS Capital have succeeded in purchasing certain principal Waterford Wedgwood assets from the bankrupt group. The Wedgwood cousins had pledged to save local jobs – now many Wedgwood employees face a very uncertain futuire. The whole region's future is bleak – most ceramic production has now moved overseas. Only a handful of Staffordshire firms remain.

This marks a sad end to a venerable family tradition. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons was founded in 1759, however the potting tradition stretches back to Josiah Wedgwood's great-great-grandfather, Gilbert Wedgwood (1588-1678) who moved from Biddulph to Burslem upon his marriage to heiress Margaret Burslem, and took up the trade. Since that time, from father-to-son, in an unbroken line – until the resignations of Dr Alan Wedgwood and Thomas R Wedgwood from the firm; "No other family business is recorded as surviving in unbroken succession for so long"

Now, according to reports: "KPS will expand Waterford Wedgwood into emerging markets, transfer production overseas and cut costs" – oh dear, what would Josiah have said? I suspect his would have exclaimed his oft spoken retort "This will not do for Josiah Wedgwood". Your family agreed and they tried, there is no dishonour in that.

Wedgwood 250

I know that members of the Wedgwood family associated with the recent bid for the old family firm have plans for a commemoration of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons' 250th Anniversary. In America advance plans are already in pace, Lord Wedgwood - a US resident and Brand Ambassador - is associated with the Commemorative Exhibition planned for Washington D.C. in the Autumn (or should I say "Fall"). The following information is from: http://www.wedgwood250usa.org/

The year 2009 marks the 250^th anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood’s company founding in 1759. The Wedgwood-250 Exhibition USA Committee is pleased to announce its commemoration plans for a major exhibit and ceremony to take place in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. The Wedgwood collecting community and the Wedgwood company are collaborating with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum and Society in staging “Wedgwood: 250 Years of Innovation and Artistry”. 

This exhibition will run from 3 October 2009 through 27 February 2010 at the DAR Museum and will showcase a broad range of select items illustrating the company's unique history and manufacturing. All eras from 1759 to 2009, the wide variety of clay bodies and designs, and the numerous categories of items produced will be represented, with the objects being drawn from North American private, museum, and celebrity collections. The program will also offer a monthly lecture series, presented by noted Wedgwood authorities, over the period of the exhibition. And there will be special prestige ware and commemorative objects for sale. 

In addition, a full-color catalogue, featuring all the objects in the exhibit, a Wedgwood historical introduction written by a famed author, underwriter advertisements, sponsor, benefactor and lender listings, and more, will be produced. This catalogue will be funded by sponsors and benefactors who will be duly recognized in both the catalogue and onsite acknowledgement board during this five-month exhibition. Donations starting at $100 are being accepted now. Those making a contribution of $1000 or higher will be invited to join lenders, celebrities, and dignitaries at the opening ceremony – an afternoon tea and private viewing – on October 2, 2009 at the DAR Memorial Continental Hall and Museum. The planned highlight will be the British Ambassador presenting a specially commissioned Wedgwood gift to the White House.

For more information on the event and how you may become a benefactor, call 703.437.7997 or email WSofWDC@aol.com. We welcome your participation in this once-in-a-lifetime milestone event.

BBC NEWS: Family members bid for Wedgwood

BBC NEWS Business Family members bid for Wedgwood

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7864731.stm

Screen clipping taken: 02/02/2009, 12:19

Save Wedgwood!

Josiah Wedgwood and Sons was founded in 1759 by the "Father of English Pottery" Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795). Josiah came from a long line of Potters and founded a branch of the family steeped in a tradition of philanthropy, which excelled in art and science and many other fields. Meanwhile Wedgwood became established as a quintessentially English brand known the world over.

In 1986 Wedgwood, in order to thwart the approaches of London International Group – a conglomerate which already owned Royal Worcester Spode, perceived the Waterford Glass Group as a White Knight and merged with them. That year Wedgwood made a profit and Waterford made a loss – a trend that would continue down to the present day which now sees much of the Group fall into Administration.

Now in its 250^th year, we await news of its ultimate fate – American Private Equity firms are circling, seeking the brands and planning to take production overseas. However, members of the Wedgwood Family, determined to keep the Wedgwood going as a Staffordshire company are, according to press reports, seeking funding to do just that, demerge Wedgwood and save it. Three Cheers for them, I held shares in Waterford Wedgwood, now worthless – I would jump at the chance of investing in a reinvigorated Wedgwood company, I wish them well.

John Wedgwood Pound