Britain will lose a piece of its national identity if the country’s ceramics industry is allowed to descend further into crisis without state assistance, the government has been warned.
Ceramics producers including the struggling potteries of Staffordshire have come under huge pressure owing to factors such as the UK’s sky-high energy costs, leading to job losses.
In a report, unions and the Green Alliance thinktank urged the government to step in to support the centuries-old sector.
“Tens of thousands of working-class jobs rely on the ceramics sector so we cannot afford to leave its future to chance. But so far we aren’t seeing enough action from a government grappling with the unique challenges the sector faces,” said Chris Hoofe of the GMB union.
“We need action on gas pricing and an end to unnecessary red tape, and we need it quick.”
While successive governments have offered some support for energy-intensive industries such as steel and aluminium to help them cope with the UK’s comparatively high energy costs, the Trades Union Congress said not enough was being done to help potteries.
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: “Britain’s ceramics industry is a fundamental part of our national identity and a vital economic powerhouse for the whole country.
“It’s a critical enabler of key strategic sectors – from energy to defence, medical technology and advanced manufacturing. But for too long the ceramics industry has been chronically overlooked and under supported and is now on its knees from sky-high energy bills, unfair dumping of cheap imports and years of underinvestment.”
The sector, which supports 20,000 jobs, was now at a “critical point”, said Cath Smith of Green Alliance.
“The budget offered some welcome steps, but ceramics needs [the] government to go further, faster,” she said.
“Paired with urgent support, decarbonisation offers a path to future-proofing the industry, but only with action to reduce industrial energy costs, tackle unfair trading, and targeted capital support to help sites modernise. Without this, the UK risks losing strategic capabilities we won’t get back.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We recognise the challenges faced by potteries and ceramics businesses across the country.
“Our industrial strategy included measures to support the sector, including our supercharger scheme that will slash energy prices as part of the plan for change, and a new British industrial competitiveness scheme will look to reduce electricity bills for manufacturing sectors like ceramics by up to 25%.”
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