As Emma Bridgewater’s eponymous pottery turns 40, the Country Living team travelled to Stoke-on-Trent to meet the people behind the brand that shares our birthday.
Speaking about her team, Emma told us: “It’s been the greatest privilege of my life to employ hundreds of people in this area.”
Below we hear from six people who work at the factory, from designers to archivists, to take us behind the scenes of one of Britain’s most iconic brands…
The designer: Sophie Gilmour
Working here is a world away from my previous career in the fast-paced fashion industry. At Emma Bridgewater, it’s all about seasonality and looking to nature for inspiration. We’ll start our season by thinking about what’s growing.
If it’s daffodils, we’ll visit places with exceptional displays, take lots of photos and come back to the studio to draw designs and think how they might make a pottery pattern. Once everyone’s happy, we’ll consider whether that design could be used across a bigger range of quilts, cushions, cards or calendars – or maybe it’ll just make a really lovely mug. The beauty of having our own kilns is that we can produce a fired sample in a couple of days. One of the best things about my job is working with a tight palette: just 30 colours. We use one pink, which means a piece from 40 years ago will feature the same shade as something from today – so your collection can keep growing and still look great over time.
The caster: Mark Hall
I first heard of Emma Bridgewater when a friend bought me a Labrador mug for my birthday (they’re my favourite breed). A few years later, I swapped working in a supermarket for a job in the dispatch department at the factory. I’m now a bench caster, pouring liquid clay slip into different-shaped moulds. The job requires six months’training and a 5am start.
On an average day, we make between 350 and 400 pieces, including half-pint jugs and more unusual cocoa mugs. I love making special commemorative pieces like the ceramic crowns we created for the King’s coronation – it’s much more involved and time-consuming work. I love telling people where I work and seeing their eyes light up.
The decorator: Olivia Day
During my interview, I did a ‘trade test’, decorating a mug with the iconic Polka Dot design. Three years later, I work on 20 mugs at once (they’re positioned on a spinning table) and can finish 200 in a day.
More complicated designs – such as the dahlias and daffodils from our Spring Flowers collection – can take 10-15 minutes per piece, but you get quicker with time. For some items, we follow a specific spec; with others, like Pink Hearts, I have creative control.
Sometimes, they’ll film my hands at work for Instagram. A reel can be viewed hundreds of thousands of times, which is really cool. I find sponging quite meditative – I’ll put on a podcast and retreat into my own little world. When we finish, we’ll stamp our signature on the bottom. I love going into a shop and spotting something I’ve made.
The selector: Tracey Whitehead
At Emma Bridgewater, there’s no such thing as a perfect piece because everything is handmade – that’s the charm. But here in final selection, we’re still upholding the highest standards – looking for the tiniest mark or crack or even a little run on the glaze.
I start work at 7am and a typical day might involve checking thousands of ‘seconds’ to make sure they’re categorised correctly. Inspection of a mug might take minutes; with a teapot, it’s a lot longer.
My favourite thing to work on is the Polka Dot mug because that’s where it all started. I get a real sense of achievement when I see the end product and feel passionate about showcasing Stoke’s ceramics. I’ve worked in the industry for more than 20 years – the team feel like family.
The archivist: Tom Phillips
My day always starts at 7am, but that’s where the similarity ends. One day, I’ll be sent a shot of a tiny leaf with the query ‘Where is this from?’; on another, I’ll be gathering everything we’ve produced on frogs. Our archive is vast. There are all Emma’s sketchbooks, hundreds of thousands of sponges and more than 250 shapes – from the eight-inch plate to a traditional Staffordshire cow creamer. The collection also includes each of the special commemorative pieces produced over the past 40 years, including the mug raised by First Lady Biden at the Downing Street celebrations for King Charles’s coronation.
Unlike a museum, our archive is constantly in use. Emma frequently pops in. She’ll take out the boxes of sponges and experiment on paper – that’s where new ideas can come from. I’ve worked here for 15 years and still feel proud to be a part of keeping heritage craft alive in Stoke-on-Trent.”
The tour guide: Lorraine Leese
I started here in 2006 as a lithographer, applying intricate patterns to pieces before they were fired in the kilns. I worked on bird, cat and dog designs – as well as on the Black Toast collection.
I came to tours five years ago. People who’ve worked on the factory floor make great guides, as they’ve been behind the scenes. We run three tours a day, including one where you can have a full English breakfast and paint a piece of pottery. We start in the sliphouse – where huge ‘blunger’ machines mix the liquid clay – and finish at inspection, where each piece receives a rigorous check. My favourite part is visiting the casters – I love seeing people’s faces when I tell them that a mug or jug is made with something that comes out of the ground.
Join us at the Emma Bridgewater factory!
To celebrate our joint 40th birthdays, we are delighted to invite you to join Country Living for an exclusive day out at the Emma Bridgewater factory on Thursday, 9 October 2025. This event is for subscribers only.
Enjoy a private tour of the original Stoke-on-Trent factory and watch as teams of talented artisans create iconic homeware pieces – from mugs to jugs, bowls and plates. You will also be treated to a delicious seasonal lunch, a visit to the studio to decorate your own piece and a special discount in the gift shop.
The day costs £95 per person. To book, visit rewards.countryliving.co.uk and log in using your customer number (your subscription number). You can find your number at the top of your subscription letter and monthly issues.