East Midlands MEP visits 200-year-old Derbyshire pottery manufacturer

From left to right, Robert Clay, Johanne Totman, Dean Barlow, Emma McClarkin MEP, and Sebastian Lazell

East Midlands Conservative MEP Emma McClarkin was given a tour around Denby Pottery’s factory last Friday (16 January), during her visit to the Derbyshire-based company.

Denby has been making pottery in Derbyshire for over 200 years. Established in 1809, the company prides itself on setting the standards which others aspire to. Currently employing 800 people, over 400 of whom work at the factory in Derbyshire, each piece of dinnerware they make passes through 25 pairs of hands before it is finished.

Miss McClarkin was invited to visit Denby by Dean Barlow, the Head of Manufacturing and Compliance, to discuss a number of European issues which are relevant to them. This included the price of energy, the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, and other European policies such as Country of Origin marking. She also met with the recently-appointed Managing Director, Sebastian Lazell, the Engineering Manager, Rob Clay, and the Purchasing Manager, Johanne Totman.

Following the meeting and factory tour, when Miss McClarkin got the chance to glaze a teapot, she said:

Emma McClarkin MEP and Joe Pearson holding Emma’s glazed teapot

“It was a pleasure to come here to hear about the rich history of Denby Pottery and how European legislation affects the modern business. I’d like to thank Dean Barlow for inviting me and everyone at Denby for welcoming me.

“There’s no doubt that the EU’s regulations are affecting how companies such as Denby approach their business procedures, and it’s up to us as MEPs to feed this information back to the Parliament so that the regulations which come out of Brussels are better crafted and less intrusive for businesses in the East Midlands and wider UK.”

Dean Barlow, Head of Manufacturing at Denby, said:

“It was our pleasure to show Emma around the Denby factory and share with her our rich heritage, and thank her for taking the time out of her busy schedule. We have been continually manufacturing on the Denby site for over 200 years and it is important that our representatives in Europe understand the impact of EU directives and the effects on businesses. Our aim is to continue the Denby success story well into the future!”