GRAYSHOTT Pottery celebrated its 60th birthday last Friday with the good news it is now the biggest potter in the south of England, with orders flooding in to make bespoke catering ware for leading chains including Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurants.

While fellow businesses in the former world pottery capital of Stoke are struggling to survive, Grayshott – the last stoneware pottery in the UK, is going from strength to strength, thanks to its flexible creativity and the loyalty of its close-knit workforce.

Four managing directors past and present launched the birthday celebrations and, demonstrating the enduring nature of the pottery’s office romances, two of them are married to fellow workers.

Chris Greenaway, who was made MD five years ago, met his future wife Alison at the School Road pottery, while Glenn Myers – appointed joint MD a year ago – has just wed fellow worker Janna.

Mr and Mrs Myers were presented with a commemorative plate as a wedding present, signed by all the employees, shortly after former MDs Phil Bates and Ed Snell joined Mr Greenaway and Mr Myers to admire the commemorative 60th plate now on sale to celebrate a landmark year.

Besides being the village’s largest employer, with a 50-strong workforce, Grayshott has the distinction of employing some of the longest-serving members of staff anywhere.

A leading figure among them, is Mr Bates, who started at the pottery aged 15 in 1960, and moved with it from Brook to Grayshott in 1967, rising through the ranks to the top position, and who now serves as a trustee.

Mr Snell also started out on the factory floor in 1972 casting piggy banks, before being appointed MD when Mr Bates retired seven years ago. Mr Greenaway has spent 40 years with the firm while is has been Mr Myers’ only employer since he started at 17.

Mr Greenaway said: “I started as a trainee thrower and worked my way round the factory floor. It’s been a brilliant grounding for now.

“When I talk to a customer I know exactly how the ware is made. One of our most successful items, porcelain clocks, were down to Ed. We were selling 2,500 a week in 1988. The key thing has always been our flexibility. Stoke potteries that are too set in their ways have gone into decline.”

An innovative new partnership was created between Grayshott and Dartington potteries when the latter ceased trading from its Devon base. Its skills were transferred to achieve vibrant hand-painted finishes which are now sold in limited editions in UK museums and galleries.

Grayshott Pottery boasts a well-stocked shop with its own ceramics gallery and a cafe, and offers free tours and a host of creative workshops.

Forging ever-closer links with its workforce, it has become an ‘employee benefit trust’. Mr Bates is one of three trustees and, helped to set up Grayshott Pottery Community Fund for the overall benefit of the village.