On December 19th 2012 it was announced that Steelite international has acquired the prestigious china brand Royal Crown Derby China for an undisclosed sum. This follows the announcement that Hugh Gibson is retire, selling his interest to Steelite.
Steelite is one of the largest quality Hospitality and Restaurant suppliers based in Burslem, Stoke-on Trent and clearly they see a synergy with the Royal Crown Derby brand. Looking globally they can see that a famous, high value British brand with a heritage of designing and making rich patterns will sell well in the emerging markets, China and of course the Middle East. I think that they are probably right too. Steelite has around 800 employees and a current sales of £66 Million.
Royal Crown Derby, established in Derby in 1750, is most famous for producing top end and luxuriously designed tableware and giftware, Gold Imari 1128 being one of the most recognised designs. The Imari design has a long association with the travelling community as a demonstration of wealth and investment. RCD are also very strong with Royal Collectables and Memorabilia and along with a range of paperweight animalsis still, albeit dwindling, sought after by collectors. Sales are approximately £7 Million and there are 200 employees.
It is not the first time that Royal Crown Derby and Steelite have traded side by side – they were both part of the Royal Doulton Group. Hugh Gibson could see the potential of Royal Crown Derby and bought the company in 2000. He has nurtured and guided, ably assisted by Simon Willis and a very loyal team through some challenging times – not least when it’s biggest customer the Wedgwood Royal Doulton Group WWRD went into administration in 2009. Since then the factory has been working mainly a 4 day week although various Royal events boosted sales.
Quite naturally the Royal Crown Derby employees will be apprehensive of the takeover. Whilst they will have to wait and see what happens they can rest assured that Kevin Oakes the Steelite Chief Executive clearly understands the china market. He is also known to be passionate about made in Great Britain product.
Given what is going on with imports from China and the development of emerging markets and their tastes, there is a great opportunity and both Steelite and Royal Crown Derby are now very well positioned to take full advantage.