Steelite

Last updated

Steelite International
Company type Private, Subsidiary
Industry Ceramics
Founded1983;41 years ago (1983)
FoundersDavid Edward Dunn Johnson
Headquarters,
England
Area served
Worldwide
Website www.steelite.com

Steelite International is a British ceramics manufacturer based in Middleport, Staffordshire, England. They specialise in alumina-strengthened vitreous tableware for the hospitality industry. [1]

Contents

The company had a turnover of £117 million in 2016. In 2017, it supplied tableware to more than 140 countries, and employed more than 1,000 people. [2] Production output was reported to be around 550,000 pieces per week. [3]

History

The entrance to Dale Hall Works in 1984. Dalehall works, Burslem - geograph.org.uk - 388397.jpg
The entrance to Dale Hall Works in 1984.

Steelite International plc was established in 1983, when David Edward Dunn Johnson bought the hotelware division of Royal Doulton. [4] [5]

The company operates from Dale Hall Works and the adjacent Albany Works. [4] Dale Hall Works was founded in 1790; from about 1937 to about 1998 it was operated by Dunn Bennett & Co Ltd (a company established in 1876 in Hanley), then by Steelite International. [6] [7]

In March 2020, the food service divisions of the Homer Laughlin China Company and its sister company, the Hall China Company, were acquired by Steelite. The former Homer Laughlin and Hall China manufacturing operations were subsequently renamed The Fiesta Tableware Company. Homer Laughlin's Fiesta retail line was not part of the sale and will continue to be manufactured at the existing plant in Newell, West Virginia, US. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent</span> City in Staffordshire, England

Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2022, the city had an estimated population of 259,965. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiesta (dinnerware)</span> Line of ceramic glazed dinnerware

Fiesta is a line of ceramic glazed dinnerware manufactured and marketed by the Fiesta Tableware Company of Newell, West Virginia since its introduction in 1936, with a hiatus from 1973 to 1985. Fiesta is noted for its Art Deco styling and its range of often bold, solid colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenton, Staffordshire</span> One of the Six Towns of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England

Fenton is one of the six towns that amalgamated with Hanley, Tunstall, Burslem, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgotten Town", because it was omitted by local author, Arnold Bennett, from many of his works based in the area, including one of his most famous novels, Anna of the Five Towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staffordshire Potteries</span> Historic ceramic-producing region within the present Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ceramic production in the early 17th century, due to the local availability of clay, salt, lead and coal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burslem</span> One of the Six Towns of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England

Burslem is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. The population of the town was included under the Burslem Central ward and had a population of 6,490 in the 2021 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Crown Derby</span> English porcelain manufacturer

The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, having produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750. It was known as 'Derby Porcelain' until 1773, when it became 'Crown Derby', the 'Royal' being added in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Doulton</span> British ceramics manufacturing company

Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of English pottery. From the start, the backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares, mostly stonewares, including storage jars, tankards and the like, and later extending to drain pipes, lavatories, water filters, electrical porcelain and other technical ceramics. From 1853 to 1901, its wares were marked Doulton & Co., then from 1901, when a royal warrant was given, Royal Doulton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnson Brothers</span> Defunct British tableware manufacturers

Johnson Brothers was a British tableware manufacturer and exporter that was noted for its early introduction of "semi-porcelain" tableware. It was among the most successful Staffordshire potteries which produced tableware, much of it exported to the United States, from the 1890s through to the 1960s. They were also important manufacturers of large bathroom ceramics. Some of its designs, such as "Eternal Beau", "Dawn", "Old Britain Castles" and "Historic America", achieved widespread popularity and are still collected today. The company's success was due in part to its ability to identify and follow trends that appealed to its customers in the United States, and in part to the high quality of its designs, produced by skilled artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Hurten Rhead</span>

Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, he worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead was highly influential in both studio and commercial pottery. He worked for the Roseville Pottery, established his own Rhead Pottery (1913–1917), and in 1935 designed the highly successful Fiesta ware for Homer Laughlin China Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hall China Company</span> Yellow butter or cheese refrigerator storage box

The Hall China Company was an American ceramics manufacturer located in East Liverpool, Ohio, United States. At the time of its closure, Hall China was one of two potteries under the HLC Inc. brand, the other being Homer Laughlin China. In 2020, it was announced that the Hall China facility would be closed by February 2021 to reduce overhead in the now Fiesta Tableware Company, as the Hall China brand itself had been sold to Steelite International earlier in the year. Hall China is still produced as a food service brand by Steelite, but no longer operates as an independent brand in retail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Ceramics</span>

Wade Ceramics Ltd was a manufacturer of porcelain and earthenware, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Its products include animal figures for its Collectors Club, whisky flagons, and a variety of industrial ceramics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longport, Staffordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Longport is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the location for Longbridge Hayes industrial estate.

The Fiesta Tableware Company is a ceramics manufacturer located in Newell, West Virginia, United States. Established in 1871, it is widely known for its Art Deco glazed dinnerware line, Fiesta. In 2002, The New York Times called Fiesta "the most collected brand of china in the United States".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franciscan Ceramics</span>

Franciscan Ceramics are ceramic tableware and tile products produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles, California, US from 1934 to 1962, International Pipe and Ceramics (Interpace) from 1962 to 1979, and Wedgwood from 1979 to 1983. Wedgwood closed the Los Angeles plant, and moved the production of dinnerware to England in 1983. Waterford Glass Group plc purchased Wedgwood in 1986, becoming Waterford Wedgwood. KPS Capital Partners acquired all of the holdings of Waterford Wedgwood in 2009. The Franciscan brand became part of a group of companies known as WWRD, an acronym for "Wedgwood Waterford Royal Doulton." WWRD continues to produce the Franciscan patterns Desert Rose and Apple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chell, Staffordshire</span> Suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, England

Chell is a suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England, that can be subdivided into Little Chell, Great Chell and Chell Heath. It lies on the northern edge of the city, approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) from Tunstall, 2 miles (3.2 km) from Burslem and 3 miles (4.8 km) from the county border with Cheshire. Chell borders Pitts Hill to the west, Tunstall to the south west, Stanfield and Bradeley to the south, with the outlying villages of Packmoor and Brindley Ford to the north and Ball Green to the east. Since 2011 the area has been divided into the electoral wards of Bradeley & Chell Heath, Great Chell & Packmoor and Little Chell & Stanfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironstone china</span> Vitreous pottery

Ironstone china, ironstone ware or most commonly just ironstone, is a type of vitreous pottery first made in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century. It is often classed as earthenware although in appearance and properties it is similar to fine stoneware. It was developed in the 19th century by potters in Staffordshire, England, as a cheaper, mass-produced alternative for porcelain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restaurant ware</span>

Restaurant ware, or most commonly hotelware, is vitrified, ceramic tableware which exhibits high mechanical strength and is produced for use in hotels and restaurants. Tableware used in railway dining cars, passenger ships and airlines are also included in this category.

Edward Fisher Bodley (1815–1881) was an English businessman, owner of a Staffordshire pottery. It operated on several sites in what is now Stoke-on-Trent. He had been a Congregationalist minister, and retained religious interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enoch Wood</span> English potter and businessman (1759–1840)

Enoch Wood (1759–1840) was an English potter and businessman, from one of the major families in Staffordshire pottery. Starting as a modeller, he established a successful business in Burslem in the Staffordshire Potteries, from 1790-1818 trading as Wood and Caldwell. In the 18th century they produced many Staffordshire figures, which Wood modelled himself, and other types of earthenware and stoneware. After 1818 his company, now Enoch Wood & Sons, produced large quantities of blue and white transfer-printed tableware in earthenware, much of which was exported to America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town Hall, Burslem</span> Municipal building in Burslem, Staffordshire, England

The Old Town Hall is a former town hall in Burslem, in Staffordshire, England. It is in the Market Place, in the centre of the town. It is a Grade II* listed building, listed on 2 October 1951.

References

  1. ’Slimline Steelite Hotelware With Style’ Hotels & Restaurants International. Vol. 16. 1982. Pg. 90
  2. Company profile 17 August 2017 www.steelite.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  3. Steelite International Retrieved 11 March 2023
  4. 1 2 Steelite International, Orme Street, Burslem thepotteries.org. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  5. A Journey Through The Years www.steelite.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  6. Dale Hall Works, Burslem thepotteries.org. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  7. Dunn, Bennett & Co thepotteries.org. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  8. "Homer Laughlin and Hall China Foodservice Brands to Join Steelite International". Press Release. 26 March 2020.