JOHN CAUDWELL SUPPORTS CONSERVATION PROJECT AT MIDDLEPORT POTTERY, STOKE-ON-TRENT

JOHN CAUDWELL

@johndcaudwell

PRESS RELEASE

October 25, 2011.

JOHN CAUDWELL SUPPORTS CONSERVATION PROJECT AT MIDDLEPORT POTTERY, STOKE-ON-TRENT.

October 25, 2011, tour of factory with HRH The Prince of Wales.

Entrepreneur John Caudwell, who built one of the UK’s most successful mobile phone businesses, creating thousands of jobs in Stoke-on-Trent, has committed a significant six-figure sum to a project by The Prince’s Regeneration Trust for the conservation and regeneration of Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

John toured the factory on Tuesday, October 25, 2011 with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, to learn about the project and its wider regeneration objectives. The project at Middleport will create local jobs, attract new business to the area and production of the world-renowned blue and white Burleighware will remain in Stoke-on-Trent.  

“In an era of an invisible and largely electronic economy, it is sometimes easy to forget that everything we know today was built on an industrial and manufacturing revolution, which bred incredible craftsmen and products, and made Britain a manufacturing powerhouse. Coming from an engineering background myself, I really appreciate the skills required in making and producing quality products,” said John Caudwell.

“Making pottery is an ancient industry; we touch and use the products of the pottery industry thousands of times a day – which perhaps dilutes our recognition of their significance.

“The pottery products of Stoke-on-Trent are something very special, often imitated but never matched. But the products of Middleport Pottery are not just special, they represent the products of the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industry at its very best.

“Nowhere else on earth are the skills and craftsmanship of working with clay, water, heat and colour so deeply embedded in the DNA of the population. It is crucial that such craftsmanship is preserved in Stoke-on-Trent, and so I am delighted to be making a contribution to the recovery, maintenance and growth of a vital local industry.”

In 2006, John Caudwell sold his 10,000-employee mobile phone business, which included Phones 4u, for £1.5bn. John now concentrates on charitable and philanthropic work including Caudwell Children @caudwellkids.

Follow John Caudwell on Twitter @johndcaudwell.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk