Royal Worcester cuts take effect

British ceramics manufacturers have been hit by falling demand

One hundred workers are being made redundant from Royal Worcester Porcelain on Friday.

The staff from the Worcester firm were originally told in January 2005 that they would be losing their jobs.

The losses equate to a third of the workforce at Royal Worcester's factory in Severn Street.

Management says the redundancies were inevitable due to falling demand for traditional products, and are part of a restructuring of its manufacturing.

The job losses fall across several sectors of the business, including manufacturing, retail and design.

Retrained

The layoffs follow 100 staff cuts which were made in November 2003.

The 200 employees who remain with Royal Worcester will be retrained so the company can focus on the production of ornamental, giftware and prestige ranges.

A sale of surplus land around the company's headquarters has been proposed as part of the restructuring.

The Royal Worcester and Spode group also has operations in Stoke-on-Trent and North America, which have been left relatively unscathed by the latest round of job cuts.