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Emma Bridgewater Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryCeramics
Founded1985; 39 years ago (1985)
FounderEmma Bridgewater Edit this on Wikidata
Owners
  • Emma Rice
  • Matthew Rice
Websitewww.emmabridgewater.co.uk
A plate made by the company

Emma Bridgewater is a British ceramics manufacturing company founded in 1985. The company specialises in earthenware tableware, manufactured in Stoke-on-Trent, England.[1][2][3][4] The pottery is produced using traditional techniques.[5] The company is one of the largest pottery manufacturers based entirely in the UK.[6]

Bus with Emma Bridgewater livery

There are two Emma Bridgewater shops in London as well as two outlet stores, located at the company's factory in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, and in Bicester Village, Oxfordshire respectively.

The company has been certified as a B-Corporation since January 2022.[7]

History

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Bridgewater Pottery Works, Eastwood, Hanley

The company was founded by Emma Rice, née Bridgewater, in 1985 when being unable to find a suitable cup and saucer for a gift for her mother she decided to create her own.[8] Drawing four shapes, a mug, a bowl, a jug and a dish, samples were created in Stoke-on-Trent.[9]

In 1995, the company purchased a former Victorian factory site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, and converted the site.[10] Production began there in 1996.[8]

During a royal visit, Bridgewater discussed the brand's launch of its biggest ever collection of Royal commemorative ware to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.[11] Catherine, Princess of Wales, made an official visit to the factory in 2015.[8]

In its first year the company had a turnover of around £30,000. By 2009 this had increased to almost £8 million,[9] and £11 million in 2010, employing 180 people.[12] According to their website, in 2022 around 230 people worked their factory and produce 1.7 million pieces annually.[1]

Products and Production

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Emma Bridgewater earthenware is manufactured using "traditional techniques of manufacture and decoration", for example decoration is hand-applied using sponges, brushes and transfers.[13] The earthenware is produced using mould casting, before being fettled and sponged, and then fired.[14] Decoration is then applied using either sponge painting or lithographing.[14] Sponge painted decoration was a historically common technique in the British pottery industry, but had fallen out of manufacturing practice until it was revived by the company in the 1980s.[10] The polka dot pattern is one prominent Emma Bridgewater design created using this technique.[14]

Emma Bridgewater also produces a range of homeware and gifts. The company's pottery designs are adapted for application onto textiles, glass, tin, stationery, and melamine.[15]

Founder and owners

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The company is named after the founder and owner Emma Rice, née Bridgewater. Bridgewater previously ran the company with her ex-husband artist Matthew Rice, who still designs for the company.[16][17]

Bridgewater was born in Cambridge, England, in 1960, and studied English Literature at the University of London.[13] Bridgewater spent most of her childhood in north Oxford and has seven siblings, including the journalist Clover Stroud and Nell Gifford, co-founder and ringmistress of Giffords Circus.[18][19]

Bridgewater married Matthew Rice in 1987 and the couple have four children together.[20] Matthew Rice is a painter, architectural writer[21] and illustrator[22] and also designs for the company, and he indulges his passion for birdlife in the Birds range.[15] The couple have since amicably divorced after 30 years of marriage however Rice still designs for the company.[23][17]

Both Bridgewater and Rice are honorary graduates of Staffordshire University, in relation to their work at Emma Bridgewater.[24] Bridgewater backed Stoke-on-Trent's bid for UK City of Culture when speaking to BBC News in 2017.[25]

In 2013 Bridgewater was appointed a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to British industry.[26]

In 2016, Emma Bridgewater was made President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.[27] She is also a Patron of the Heritage Crafts Association.

Bridgewater was interviewed for TED by serial entrepreneur and TED Speaker Margaret Heffernan.[28]

Emma Bridgewater was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs by Kirsty Young in 2016.[29] Also on BBC Radio 4, Bridgewater has appeared on Woman's Hour,[30] Any Questions?[31] and Saturday Live.[32]

"Festival in a Factory"

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For the last few years, the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent has been the home to the "Festival in a Factory", a 3-day literary festival where a number of authors, politicians, artists and celebrities give public lectures.[33] Recent speakers have included Mary Portas, Viv Groskop Elizabeth Day, Christopher Eccleston, Lauren Child, AN Wilson, historian Tom Holland, author Ben Macintyre, historian Andrew Roberts, Rachel Reeves MP, Greenpeace UK's Will McCallum, biographer Jenny Uglow, the National Trust's Nino Strachey, the V&A Museum's Oriole Cullen and Claire Wilcox, and novelist Deborah Moggach.[34]

The 2020 Festival, planned for 4–6 June,[35] was cancelled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The head gardener of the factory garden is the author and broadcaster Arthur Parkinson. [36]

Bibliography

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  • Toast & marmalade and other stories. London: Saltyard Books. 2014. ISBN 978-1-44473-491-1.
  • Pattern. London: Saltyard Books. 2016. ISBN 978-1-44473-494-2.

References

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  1. ^ a b "About the Factory | Our History | Emma Bridgewater".
  2. ^ 'The UK Ceramic Marketing Strategy in response to globalization.' N.Ewins. Conference Of Historical Analysis And Research In Marketing (CHARM). 30 May - 2 Jun 2013. Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
  3. ^ "Emma Bridgewater | Artists | Collection | British Council − Visual Arts".
  4. ^ "Behind the brand: Emma Bridgewater".
  5. ^ "Emma Bridgewater's Oxfordshire farmhouse is as lovely as her pottery". House & Garden. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. ^ "About the Company at Emma Bridgewater". www.emmabridgewater.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Emma Bridgewater Ltd - Certified B Corporation - B Lab Global". www.bcorporation.net. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "'5 homewares I can't live without,' with Emma Bridgewater". Country Living. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Emma Bridgewater: The success of a pottery design business". The Daily Telegraph. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Who is Emma Bridgewater? Everything you need to know". Your Home Style. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Emma Bridgewater launches Jubilee collection | 6 Towns Radio". 6towns.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Emma Bridgewater". BBC Business News. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  13. ^ a b "Emma Bridgewater | Artists | Collection | British Council − Visual Arts". visualarts.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "This is how an Emma Bridgewater mug is made". Good Housekeeping. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  15. ^ a b Knight, Kathryn (30 March 2014). "Pottery designer Emma Bridgewater: The woman who inspired my designs". Express. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. ^ Wheater, Caroline. "Emma Bridgewater". BBC Homes and Antiques. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  17. ^ a b "About". Matthew Rice. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  18. ^ Metcalf, Charlotte (30 August 2022). "Three Sisters: Emma Bridgewater, Nell Gifford and Clover Stroud". Country and Town House. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  19. ^ Willsher, Kim (23 December 2019). "Nell Gifford obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  20. ^ "10 things you didn't know about Emma Bridgewater". Country Living. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Matthew Rice | Bedales School". www.bedales.org.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Matthew Rice – Drawing Everyday". The Royal Drawing School. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  23. ^ Woods, Judith (18 March 2023). "Emma Bridgewater: 'Harry and Meghan should stop sulking and come to the Coronation'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  24. ^ "Matthew Rice - Honorary Graduate - Staffordshire University". www.staffs.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Bridgewater backs Stoke's culture bid". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  26. ^ "Emma Bridgewater boss appointed CBE at Windsor Castle". BBC News. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  27. ^ "CPRE". www.cpre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  28. ^ Bridgewater, Emma (1 December 2017), How an entrepreneurial potter helped restore beauty to a city, retrieved 23 April 2023
  29. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Emma Bridgewater". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  30. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Emma Bridgewater, New female politicians in Iran, Are you turning into your mother?". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  31. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Any Questions?, Ben Bradley MP, Emma Bridgewater, Richard Burgon MP, Edwina Currie". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  32. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Live, Lenny Henry, Pumeza Matshikiza, Jack Cooke, Emma Bridgewater, Ana Matronic". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  33. ^ "Video of the 2019 highlights". Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  34. ^ speaker list
  35. ^ "The cancelled 2020 programme". Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  36. ^ Parkinson, Arthur (2018). The Pottery Gardener: Flowers and Hens at the Emma Bridgewater Factory. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8557-4.
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