Wedgwood: Another quiet before the storm

It's coming up to a month since KPS formally bought Wedgwood, and slowly edging towards the 40 days in which the new owners of the luxury firm would reveal their plans for the company.

Given Alistair Darling's somewhat-optimistic view of recovery from the UK's deepest recession since the Second World War, it might a simple case to imagine that a simple balancing of the books would be all that's needed to return the Waterford Wedgwood business back to profit.

One might even hope that the redundancies which rippled through the group in the past six months might have finally come to an end. Oh, if only the reality were that simple.

Come May 6 - the day when 40 days are up (although it will all depend on whether you count weekends - the remaining workforce at Barlaston are likely to find out just what more needs to be done.

I've speculated before with bleak predictions, but then I've only ever based that on strategies put forward years ago by Royal Doulton's chief executive Wayne Nutbeen when his firm was on the rocks.

Like Wedgwood, Royal Doulton had been a lumbering juggernaut of a production leviathan which had efficiently pumping out plates and cups by the million for decades. Then people stopped buying these expensive dinner services, the unfashionable ceramic figurines.

Nutbeen gained no gratitude from his workforce when he announced plans to slash back the unprofitable product ranges, and match production with the price-point consumers were willing to pay.

After all, it would cost thousands of often highly-skilled people their jobs, although he planned to keep the brand alive.

He failed, of course, because he was unable to curb the losses which would have otherwise bankrupted his firm.

Instead Royal Doulton was snapped up by Waterford Wedgwood, which has similarly run out of cash.

At least, the new owners have a fresh brush to sweep out the cobwebs. It might be painful and bloody on the shopfloor, but workers will have seen the scalpel coming for months.

What might be left is a true chance to carve out the bloat which tarnished the names of Royal Doulton and Wedgwood - at least in the eyes of thousands of people who either worked or were connected with workers of the firm.

One chance to restore the names to the sort of esteem with which companies like JCB are held, even despite its recent redundancies.