Stoke's pottery industry feels 'forgotten' by the government

Pottery firms in Stoke-on-Trent say they fear they're becoming the 'forgotten industry' in the eyes of the government.

It's after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her budget but didn't include any immediate support they've been calling for all year, in particular for costs like energy and gas.

"The ceramic industry is constantly ignored" said Mike Raybould, Chief Executive of Portmeirion Group.

"We also looked to see if they'd reverse the increase to national insurance which they put in place a year ago, that didn't happen. You could say it didn't go up again - thank god - but you could say there wasn't a lot there for business, at least the ceramics industry.

"We'll continue to focus on fighting harder and what we can do to remain competitive and fight harder in a home markets, and to win business in our export markets but we're not being helped by the backdrop here.

"The challenges we, and ceramics in the UK are facing, have not been mentioned or addressed. Nothing about the high energy costs or how to do something about that.

Very disappointing, very frustrating."

The government has recently called ceramics 'foundational' with Rachel Reeves telling us on a visit how it's an important part of Britain's heritage and industrial future.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.