TG Green & Co has stepped into the void left by the recent closure of Royal Stafford. The two brands already have a link – Royal Stafford has been producing bisque ware for Cornishware since 2017, prior to the decoration and glazing processes which occur at TG Green’s pottery in the West Country.
TG Green have acquired all the machinery previously owned by Royal Stafford and engaged 17 former Royal Stafford members of staff headed by John Nixon as Production Manager. TG Green have also entered into an arrangement with the landlords of the Royal Stafford site in Burslem to occupy for the foreseeable future. Production has already recommenced.
Charles Rickards, Managing Director of TG Green says: “We were all deeply shocked and surprised by the demise of Royal Stafford which was clearly going to have a profound impact on our own business and recognised something needed to be done, and fast.”
Royal Stafford (RST Limited) went into liquidation on 3 February without warning to either customers or staff and TG Green contacted the liquidators Moore Recovery Limited on the same day and formally concluded an agreement to acquire the assets on 20 March, some 45 days later. Charles has experience in acquiring distressed businesses including TG Green in 2008 and Bishopsgate Specialist Installations also in 2008 which was successfully turned round and successfully sold in 2024 Moving on up: the removals workers sharing £47.5m windfall.
Charles says, “We have worked successfully both with Moore Recovery and the auctioneers Pye and Co to come up with a solution which made commercial sense and allowed us to create some of the jobs which had been lost whilst re-establishing supply to TG Green. What has impressed me most is the skill and spirit of the people we have taken on who are all highly skilled at what they do and very much up for the challenges ahead.”
The new business has already been approached by several former Royal Stafford customers and secured it first order for £58,000 earlier this week.
Rickards says, “It’s very difficult to know what how this will unfold but we hope to build upon our core business in the months ahead ensuring any new business we take on makes commercial sense and we’ll take one step at a time, but the hope is that we will be taking on more staff going forward.”
The Cornishware business model is different to many UK manufacturers as the majority of sales are made through its own website directly to customers although Cornishware does work with some key retailers such as Harrods, Liberty and Vogue who present the Cornishware range expertly. Cornishware has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and sells to over 100 different countries annually.
